


weightless

by vampiresuffrage



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, M/M, basically any warning that would apply to the podcast applies here, if you want a story w plot and suspense and friendship and lesbian overtones, maxwell lives au!, not sure exactly what to tag though!, then this is the story for you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 07:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17442674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vampiresuffrage/pseuds/vampiresuffrage
Summary: Renée Minkowski was a quick thinker. When she needed her mutiny to succeed, she convinced Jacobi and Kepler that she'd killed Alana Maxwell. As far as they were concerned, Alana was dead, and she was sure as hell the best kept secret on the Hephaestus. She fell into routine even as she planned her escape, sleeping and thinking and sketching and asking Lovelace every day, every time she brought Alana food, to just tell Jacobi she was alive. She was a prisoner, and she was alive.





	weightless

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact i forgot that there's no gravity on the hephaestus when i wrote this so i had to go through more than 25k to edit out all the gravity but it's done and we're here! and it was worth it it's all for Her (alana)

Minkowski was a quick thinker, Alana had to give her that. She might be bleeding out, and she felt like the bones in her shoulder had been shattered--they probably had been--and she knew they’d lost this time, but she had to respect Minkowski for thinking the situation through.

 

Daniel blew Hilbert up because of course he did, the idea of her dying killed him as much as it would kill her if he was in any danger she knew he couldn’t get out of. The second the blast went off, Minkowski shoved a rag down Alana’s throat to keep her from screaming, and then the gun that had been trained on her head moved to her shoulder and fired a shot.

 

And then, and _then_ Minkowski and _Hera_ \--she actually gave a damn about Hera too, that was maybe the most embarrassing part--let Daniel believe Minkowski killed her. And Alana had to hear Daniel’s voice when he thought she was dead and she couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

 

She’d heard Daniel angry, she’d heard him _furious_ , but she’d never heard this. She almost thought he might be crying for her.

 

Then she felt something hit her in the head, and she didn’t think anything for a while.

 

She woke up in Hilbert’s lab, on one of the examination tables. They’d only cuffed down one of her arms to it because yeah, she was right about her shoulder, and she was positive that arm would be useless for the time being.

 

Minkowski was looking at her from across the room.

 

They’d done it then. They got Daniel and Colonel Kepler to surrender. She almost felt proud. Maybe they were less stupid than she gave them credit for. Maybe.

 

She took a moment to struggle into a sitting position, and glared at Minkowski. “Where’s Jacobi?” Her voice was harsh, steady. Good. She didn’t need to sound as pathetic as she looked.

 

“He’s fine. That’s all you need to know.” Minkowski sounded equally as cold, and Alana almost thought it was funny. What did she have to be angry about? She hadn’t been shot, _and_ she got her ship back.

 

“Thought he would’ve killed someone to get down here by now,” she mused. She knew he wouldn’t give up if she was hurt.

 

Then Minkowski froze, just for a second, just long enough for Alana’s blood to run cold. “What did you do to him, Minkowski? I don’t care about my shoulder, if you did something to him after he surrendered--and I know they surrendered, they’re not _idiots_ , they actually know when to give up--I will kill you with my own hands.”

 

“I told you Maxwell, he’s _fine_ ,” she said, measured, but Alana could hear the way her voice shook. It was barely there, but Alana was listening for any sign of weakness in her voice, and there it was.

 

“Then where is he?” He wouldn’t give up on her, she knew that. Daniel Jacobi would _never_ leave her to the wolves like this.

 

“He thinks you died when I shot you. He heard the shot and thought I killed you, and I never told him anything different.” And the shaking was gone. She wasn’t lying. “Kepler made him surrender when I turned off the engines and made it clear I would let us fall into the star before I let him control _my_ station again. They’re both alive.”

 

And Alana didn’t have an answer to that. She set her jaw, she glared at Minkowski, and she said nothing.

 

Minkowski seemed satisfied with that. She left with a confidence in her movements that she had no right to.

 

Daniel thought she was dead, Colonel Kepler thought she was dead, and the fucking Hephaestus crew had her locked up where, as far as she could tell, she couldn’t get to them, not yet. This wasn’t a normal captive situation then. She hadn’t been trained for _this_. She’d faked her death before, of course, but Daniel always knew, and Alana always had some sort of agency in the situation. This was different.

 

She sighed. “Hera, how long was I asleep for?”

 

Silence.

 

“Great. Thank you so much Hera, so glad to know that after everything I did for you, you don’t even care enough to tell me what day it is. I’m so glad to know where I stand.”

 

Hera really was the only one from the Hephaestus that Alana gave any semblance of a damn about. It stung, she had to be honest.

 

She heard a sigh. “It’s been four days.

 

She straightened. “Thank you, Hera.”

 

Four days. She imagined Daniel, thinking she was really dead this time, for _days_. “Hera, can you, uh--please just--can you please tell Jacobi I’m not dead? I’m worried about him.”

 

“You know I can’t do that, Maxwell. It would be disobeying a direct order from my commanding officer, and also, I’m not _stupid_. He wouldn’t think twice about killing us all to get to you, you said it yourself.”

 

“He’s my best friend Hera. I don’t--I need him to know I’m still here.”

 

And then Hera stopped responding.

 

Alana went back to sleep. She’d worry about a plan when her chest wasn’t aching, and when her shoulder had started to heal.

 

Three days later, Isabel Lovelace--the same Isabel Lovelace who she'd heard Colonel Kepler shoot in the head, and he wasn't the type not to follow through on that--came into the room to give her food instead of Minkowski, and that was certainly a twist even Alana didn’t expect.

 

“How’s your shoulder?” Lovelace asked, as if she hadn’t gotten her brains blown out a week earlier.

 

“How are you breathing?” Alana asked, because that was definitely the more important question here.

 

Lovelace smiled without any contempt--or at least, not any more contempt than she had when she looked at _anyone_ \--and Alana thought that was maybe the only real smile she was going to see for a long time.

 

“Everyone else got front row seats, so I guess it’s only fair if I fill you in.” She moved closer to the end of of Alana’s bed. “They had a funeral for us and Hilbert. Body bags instead of coffins, very classy. From what I gathered, it was about as much of a disaster as you’d expect. Then I started to wake up. Took a while because getting shot in the face isn’t something you just walk away from, but I did. Kepler finally filled everyone in because he didn’t have much of a choice once one of us came back from the dead. Apparently, I died when I tried to go back to Earth. The aliens, or whatever, made a clone, so. I can't die, I guess.”

 

Alana blew out a breath. “You didn't know about it?” Lovelace shook her head. “Shit.”

 

“Yeah, it’s gonna take some getting used to.” She shrugged. Alana wondered how she was so damn convincing at the ‘I’m fine’ act.

 

“Wait, Colonel Kepler _did_ know?”

 

Of course Colonel Kepler knew. He had access to all of Goddard’s top secret information that technically didn't exist.

 

“We were as surprised as you, Maxwell. We thought he would've told you two, but--”

 

“Colonel Kepler trusts us more than probably anyone else in the world, but all that means is that we're on a _friendly_ need-to-know basis. He doesn't tell us anything not relevant to our mission, but he tells us he can't do it without us when he's hiding things.”

 

“That sounds...infuriating,” Lovelace said.

 

“Trust me Captain, you don’t know the half of it. Really starts to grate on a girl’s nerves the third or fourth time your boss gives you full creative license to decide how to kill someone without even telling you what they did to earn it,” she said, half-joking. She saw the exact moment Lovelace remembered Alana wasn’t a person anymore, even if she was human, technically.

 

She recovered quickly though. Alana commended her for it. “Try having someone on your crew, trusting him for years, finding out he’s killing all of you, then not even getting the satisfaction of being the one to wipe his miserable face out of existence,” Lovelace said, just as conversationally, and Alana was struck by the thought that yeah, Lovelace was definitely the least insufferable person on the Hephaestus’ crew.

 

Then again, she wasn’t really a person either, was she? Maybe Alana just didn’t get along with real humans. Hera was AI, Lovelace was a fucking alien, and Daniel was the same brand of no-longer-human as Alana.

 

“Not to ruin the mood we’ve got going on, but any chance you’d be willing to pass a message on to Jacobi?” she asked. Worth a shot, right?

 

Lovelace hummed. “Depends. Could I pass it on without telling him you’re not dead?” She was smiling at Alana again. Alana hated the smile this time.

 

“Nevermind.”

 

“Yeah, I figured as much.” Lovelace gestured to Alana’s food. “The Commander told me you haven’t eaten since you’ve been in here.”

 

Alana scoffed. “Yeah, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to eat without being able to use your arms, but it doesn’t work, and I’m not about to let one of you fucking spoon feed me. My right arm is useless until it starts to heal, and you’ve got my left arm cuffed to the table.”

 

Lovelace looked Alana over, considering. “I could uncuff you to let you eat,” she said. “Of course, I’d have to have my gun at your head the whole time. Safety first and all that.”

 

Alana shook her head. “I’m not stupid, Lovelace. I’m not going to try to overpower you three _and_ Hera when I have one arm and nobody to help me. Do what you have to though.”

 

Lovelace rifled through her pockets and pulled out a small key. “Commander Minkowski decided I was the most trustworthy person to hold on to it.”

 

“Captain Lovelace, are you sure this is a good idea?” Alana was almost surprised it took Hera this long to tell Lovelace to stop being so friendly with her.

 

“Good to hear your voice, Hera. Glad to know it was just me you were ignoring, I’d started to worry about you.” Alana hadn’t heard Hera’s voice since that first day. She called out for her probably ten times a day, bored and alone, and never got an answer.

 

“That’s because you tried to stick your fingers in my _brain_ and control me. I don’t want to talk to you.” Fair enough. “Captain Lovelace, are you sure it’s a good idea to take off her handcuffs?”

 

Lovelace sighed. “Look, Hera, I appreciate the concern. I really do. She has to eat something though or she’ll _actually_ die, and Commander Minkowski will be pissed. I’m going to have my gun, she won’t be able to try anything.”

 

“Scout’s honor,” Alana said, nodding. “I haven’t eaten in--how long, a week? Plus I’ve only got one working arm right now. Lovelace just woke up from being _dead_. I know better than to think I could beat her in a fight right now.”

 

“Just be careful, Captain.”

 

Then Hera was gone.

 

Lovelace pulled out her gun, pointed it at Alana’s head, and then smiled at her again before she unlocked the handcuffs. It was maybe the least worried Alana had ever felt about a gun pointed at her, and she’d had a _lot_ of people point a gun at her in her lifetime.

 

She nodded in thanks before she started to eat. She tried to take her time, because her wrist was sore and red from the handcuffs and she wasn’t looking to have them back on any sooner than necessary. She knew Lovelace could tell, but she didn’t tell Alana to hurry. She did finish the food eventually though.

 

“Can I have a few more minutes?” she asked. “You can keep the gun on me, I don’t care. I just want to be able to move around for a minute. I need to stretch my legs.”

 

Lovelace sighed. “Go ahead. Kepler and Jacobi have been able to walk around, it’s only fair.”

 

She all but jumped up as soon as Lovelace gave permission, stretched, groaned in satisfaction when she heard her back and her knees pop. “God, I needed that.”

 

Lovelace laughed. “Yeah, I bet.”

 

Alana did circles around the room, feeling the tension draining out of her body, and pointedly ignored Lovelace’s gun following her. She knew she was pushing her luck eventually though, and she sat back down on the bed.

 

“Could you just cuff my hands together? I'd rather Minkowski really kill me than spend a week in bed again.”

 

“Not in here. You know there are way too many potential weapons in here, Maxwell.” Alana deflated, just a bit. “I can talk to Commander Minkowski about moving you though, since I'm pretty sure you’re not going to bleed out if you leave.”

 

“That would be great, thank you.”

 

Lovelace nodded. Alana let herself be cuffed to the bed again.

 

Lovelace looked almost apologetic when she said she had to leave. Almost.

 

She did leave though, and Alana was alone. For how much she couldn't stand people, she really hated being alone. She went to sleep.

 

The next day, two of the three surviving members of the Hephaestus escorted her out of the lab. Lovelace and Minkowski each had a gun to her head, and none of them spoke. It was almost funny how much precaution they took with her.

 

Then again.

 

She didn’t have to kill them, didn’t even have to _touch_ one of them to win this. She just had to scream loud enough for Daniel or Colonel Kepler to hear, and the jig would be up. Even now, she had the upper hand.

 

Sure, she’d be killed as soon as she did it, but knowing that they’d only pretended she was dead, and then killed her for real _days_ later? Colonel Kepler wouldn’t be able to stop Daniel again.

  
Minkowski seemed to know where her mind was headed, and quickly brought that train of thought to an end. “If you do anything to let them know you’re here, if Jacobi comes after us, I will kill him. He’s here because the more living, breathing people we’ve got, the smoother things run, but we will kill him if we have to.”

 

She didn’t believe Minkowski would actually kill someone, but she also hadn’t thought Minkowski would shoot her. She was wrong sometimes. Plus, she knew Lovelace _would_ kill someone if she had to, that it if was her own life or Daniel’s, she’d do it without hesitating.

  
So. She stayed silent.

 

They brought her to a room she was pretty sure she'd never bothered to check out. It looked like it used to be a storage room, but they'd taken everything out of it.

 

At least they gave her a window.

 

She entered the room, ignored the weapons pointed at her, pushed herself forward to be in front of the window.

 

“Captain Lovelace told me you wanted to be able to move around. You can do that as much as you want to in here,” Minkowski told her, gesturing around the room with her gun.

 

“And really, Lieutenant, I'm so _very_ grateful you aren't keeping me on bed rest until my muscles atrophy,” Alana said, rolling her eyes.

 

“It's Commander--”

 

“And what are you going to do about it, _Lieutenant_ Minkowski?” Alana smiled. “Are you going to shoot me for my insubordination? Go ahead. I've worked for Colonel Warren Kepler for _years_ , Lieutenant. You don't scare me.”

 

Minkowski set her jaw, looking at Lovelace. “We need to get back to work.”

 

Lovelace nodded, and the two of them left. Alana heard the click of the hatch locking as it shut. Alone again. She wandered around the room until that got boring too. She noticed that there was a toilet in the room, hidden behind one of those stupid half-walls, and pretty much nothing else. Once she had scoped out everything in her new room, she sat back down in front of the window.

 

She looked outside--the window was facing away from the star--and let herself get lost in space. It was easy to let time slip away then.

 

When Lovelace came back, Alana was almost surprised. But no, Minkowski wasn’t the type to punish her prisoners with starvation. She was too good, too _human_ for that. Lovelace closed the hatch, crossed the room, and joined her next to the window.

 

“Minkowski’s okay with you being buddy-buddy with me right now?” Alana asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“My shift ended a few minutes ago, the Commander doesn’t have to know I stuck around after I brought the food,” Lovelace said, handing Alana her dinner.

 

“Why _are_ you being so friendly?” Alana asked. “You and Hilbert were planning to use homemade explosives to deal with us before Eiffel talked Minkowski out of it. Kind of made me think _maybe_ you aren't a fan.”

 

“Nothing personal, honestly. I want to go home, you three wouldn't let me, I was doing what I had to do. When you're not actively stopping me from doing the only thing I've wanted for _years_ , you seem alright,” Lovelace explained.  “And _also_ , I don't exactly remember you trying to stop Kepler from shooting me in the head.”

 

Alana grinned. “I think we're even now.”

 

“Oh, _do_ you?” Lovelace asked, skeptical.

 

“We took over your ship, you took us all prisoner. You tried to kill me, I didn't stop Colonel Kepler from killing you. That sounds pretty even to me.”

 

Lovelace hummed. “Maybe. Don't expect me to let you go, though.”

 

Alana laughed. “Oh, I know you won't. We had control here for months, you've had us for a week. You're all still way too pissed to think about coexisting. Either my guys take control back, we stay chained up indefinitely, or you get bored and kill us one day. I know how a captive situation works.”

 

Lovelace smiled. “Good to know. And anyways, you've got it easy here. The other two actually have to help with repairs.”

 

Alana shook her head. “Actually, Captain, I would kill someone right now to get something to do. I have a feeling Minkowski isn't going to trust me to fix anything though. She's smart, she probably figures that if I get anywhere near a circuit board, I could ruin everything.”

 

“And could you?” Lovelace seemed genuinely curious.

 

“Maybe. It wouldn’t be easy, not with someone breathing down my neck, but maybe.”

 

“So then we don’t have a choice but to keep you here, far away from anywhere you could get back in Hera’s head.”

 

“No, I get that, I’m just saying this is the most bored I’ve ever been being held prisoner,” Alana said.

 

“Well, I don’t think either of us could make Commander Minkowski do you any favors right now. She’s pretty pissed at you.”

 

Alana shrugged. “Worth it. When she gets over me not kissing her ass just because she beat us once, could you at least give me some paper and pens or something?”

 

“I can try.”

 

“One more favor?”

 

“I’m not telling Jacobi you’re alive.”

 

“Maybe one day. But no, I was just going to ask you to give him something.”

 

Lovelace looked suspicious. “What do you want me to give him?”

 

She pointed to a chain around her neck. “Jacobi, Colonel Kepler, and I all have one. All SI-5 does. Kind of like identification so if you get killed badly enough that they can’t recognize you, you’ve got this. That’s all it is. I want him to have something of mine, at least.”

 

“Wow Maxwell, didn’t realize you had real feelings like that,” Lovelace joked.

 

Alana shook her head. “Me and Jacobi are best friends. We’re probably the only people who could actually understand each other, and I don’t have to pretend to be a human around him and it doesn’t scare him, and he can do the same with me. He’s a good friend, Lovelace. He just thinks the three of you killed me, so he’ll always hate you too much for you to see that.”

 

Lovelace sighed. “I’ll give him the necklace.”

 

Alana smiled, probably more genuine of a smile than Lovelace needed to see. Lovelace took the necklace off of Alana, and it felt _wrong_ , but she didn’t say anything. It felt like she really was dead, or at least never coming back, because SI-5 didn’t take off their identification unless they were dead or they defected, in which case they were as good as dead. She wanted Daniel to have it though. He thought she was dead, and maybe it would help give him closure, or something.

 

Lovelace took it with her when she left the room.

 

The next month and a half or so was uneventful, all things considered. She stared out of her window trying to count the stars for hours, her shoulder mostly healed, Lovelace brought her food, sometimes they talked, sometimes they didn’t. Every day she asked Lovelace to tell Daniel she was alive, and every day Lovelace said no. She wouldn’t give up though. One day she’d get a yes. She just had to be patient.

 

Lovelace _did_ get her a pad of paper and some pencils though. So at least she had something to do now. She spent most of her time sketching. She started designing things, potential designs and coding for new machinery, new AI programs. She drew Daniel sometimes to keep his face fresh in her mind, drew Colonel Kepler when she was especially bored. She drew Lovelace sometimes when her mind wandered until she couldn’t follow her train of thought anymore. The drawings of Lovelace didn’t last more than a few hours before she scribbled over them.

 

It all definitely helped time to pass, but it still wasn’t nearly enough to occupy her. Alana Maxwell didn’t _do_ uneventful.

 

So when she heard Hera’s voice for the first time in probably a week, telling her there was a gas leak, she was almost excited _._

 

“The others are going to Hilbert’s old lab until I can verify the gas has dissipated and rotate the oxygen mains, but obviously, they can’t bring you. Captain Lovelace is on her way right now to give you an oxygen tank and a mask. I’m going to cut the air to this room for now so you don’t come into contact with the gas, and once the oxygen levels in here get low enough, I’ll tell you to put on the mask,” Hera explained.

 

“And the temperature regulation?”

 

Hera sighed. “The temperature is going to drop in here, but I _should_ have it back up before it reaches something that’s likely to be fatal. I’ll tell Captain Lovelace to bring you a blanket. It won’t do much, but it’s something.”

 

“Thank you, Hera.”

 

Lovelace did, in fact, bring a blanket with the oxygen.

 

“I’m guessing Hera told you what the plan is?” Lovelace asked, setting everything down next to Alana.

 

“Yeah, you go to the lab while I stay here and track my breathing,” Alana said, nodding.

 

“Pretty much. Now, I have to go, don’t suffocate while we’re there.”

 

“Don’t plan on it.”

 

Lovelace nodded and left. Alana heard the lock click. Maybe one day she’d forget that. It seemed Alana's whole life was going to center around “maybe one day” for the foreseeable future.

 

An hour and a half in, and Alana was starting to feel the slightest bit short of breath. Probably fifteen minutes later, Hera told her to put the mask on. Another half hour, and Alana was freezing her ass off. Hera sounded _almost_ apologetic when she said there wasn’t anything she could do about that until the air was safe again.

 

Finally, _finally_ Hera finished, and Alana, shivering and probably blue in the face, threw the mask off of herself and all but flung herself towards the nearest vent, relishing in the warming air.

 

“Thanks for not letting me die, Hera,” Alana said, tilting her head back to feel the air on her face. “I know you could’ve lied and told them you’d stop me from losing oxygen and just let me suffocate.”

 

“That doesn't mean we’re friends again, Maxwell. You knew how I felt after what Hilbert did to me, and you still stuck your hands in my brain.”

 

“Hera, I was just following orders,” Alana said, and why? Why did she feel like she had to defend herself? It wasn’t like it _mattered_ if Hera forgave her.

 

Hera scoffed. “I’m well aware of that.”

 

Alana knew she wouldn’t be hearing from her again after that, not for awhile anyways. Hera loved having the last word even more than Alana did. Alana sighed, grabbed her pen and paper, and got back to her work. She had to find some way to pass the time, after all.

 

And time did pass. Painfully uneventfully. Lovelace stayed to talk more often than not now when she brought Alana’s food. Alana thought maybe, in some other lifetime, they could’ve been friends, or something. Real friends, who cared about each other and trusted each other and--and that wasn’t the lifetime they were in. Alana was Lovelace’s prisoner. Even if they got along, they weren’t friends. They weren’t anything. They couldn’t be.

 

Plus, Daniel was Alana’s friend, her _best_ friend, even if he didn’t know she was alive, and Lovelace wouldn’t tell him she wasn’t dead. Whatever feelings she may have started to develop towards Lovelace, none of them were enough to cancel that out.

 

Months. _Months_ had passed since that disaster of a mutiny, and Alana asked her every day, and Daniel still thought she was dead. Lovelace still wouldn’t say any different. Lovelace couldn’t be her friend, couldn’t be her anything.

 

Time passed. Alana’s notepad filled itself with sketches, with pages of code, with equations and measurements and portraits when she was feeling shitty, and soon she'd entirely filled four of them, was working on a fifth. In the time she’d been locked up, she’d come up with inventions that seemed insane even to her, but she was Alana Maxwell, so she knew they could work. They _would_ work, if she could _get out_ and build them.

 

She’d maybe started to grow even more resentful of being locked up. She’d been so sure that they would all have either been killed by now, or that Daniel and Colonel Kepler would’ve regained control. She didn’t prepare for months of this.

 

She hated routine, hated that now, she could anticipate everything that was going to happen in a day almost down to the second.

 

She woke up, she sketched, she counted the stars, she worked her shoulder so it didn’t get too stiff, and--

 

Lovelace brought her food.

 

“Maxwell,” she said, crossing the room towards Alana.

 

“Captain,” Alana said, nodding.

 

“You don’t seem in a very chatty mood today,” Lovelace commented, handing Alana her food.

 

Alana scoffed. “What’s there to talk about? I’m in the same room doing the exact same things every day. You’re the only person I see most days because Minkowski can’t stand the lack of respect, Hera still hates me, and Eiffel--I’m not even sure if you told Eiffel I’m still alive. He’s an awful liar, so it would make sense to keep it from him. He _is_ the only one of you four that I haven’t seen since you faked my death.”

 

“You really think Lieutenant Minkowski would hide something like that from her own crew?” Lovelace asked, and why did she sound so _surprised_ at the implication? And also--

 

“ _Lieutenant_ Minkowski? What happened to Commander?” Minkowski was a subject they tended to avoid. Alana hadn’t asked about her, and Lovelace hadn’t talked about her.

 

The fact she’d apparently been demoted was almost as surprising as it was hilarious.

 

“She--” Lovelace sighed. “After everything that happened, she decided she needed to give up control for awhile.”

 

“Interesting,” Alana said, grinning. “Oh! And to answer your question, I think Lieutenant Minkowski _really_ doesn’t want my guys knowing I’m alive. I don’t know what she’d do or who she’d hide things from to make sure that I stay secret,” Alana mused.

 

“Well, he knows you’re alive. He doesn’t know where you are on the Hephaestus though. He told us he didn’t want to know, just in case,” Lovelace told her.

 

Alana hummed. “Would the Lieutenant appreciate her new commanding officer being so honest with me?”

 

“I already told you, Maxwell. Lieutenant Minkowski doesn’t need to know everything we talk about. You don’t tell her when I tell you things about the crew she wouldn’t want us discussing, and I won’t tell her about all the times you’ve let slip you actually care about things other than yourself,” Lovelace said, conversational. “In fact, I haven’t even told her that you care about Jacobi enough that we could, pretty easily, use his safety to use you. And I don’t plan on telling her either, because she _would_ use that, and I’ve actually started to like talking to you. I don’t tell her things you told me in confidence, you don’t tell her things I told you in confidence.” Lovelace was almost smiling again.

 

“I guess that’s a fair trade,” Alana said, gritting her teeth. “I don’t tell your crewmate when you disobey orders she gave you before you took control, and you don’t capitalize on every accidental emotion I show to the only person I can speak to, right?”

 

“Not everything is a threat here, Maxwell. I’m just saying that what we talk about can stay between us. I’m not threatening to tell Lieutenant Minkowski, I’m just saying neither of us _will_ tell her. You don’t want to do her any favors, and I don’t want you to quit telling me things. It works for both of us.”

 

“Prove it,” Alana said. “Tell me something about yourself that Minkowski could use against you. Then we’re even.”

 

Lovelace laughed. “Like what?”

 

“Something that would make her stop trusting you as much as she does.” Alana crossed her arms. She saw very little chance Lovelace would actually do it, and then she could go back to resenting her with the rest of the goddamn Hephaestus’ crew.

 

“Well,” Lovelace said, humming, “she probably wouldn’t be too happy to know I gave Jacobi that necklace of yours. She wanted zero contact between the two of you, and she sure as hell didn’t want me doing you any favors that would give him closure.”

 

And maybe Alana was genuinely surprised then. “She doesn’t know about that?”

 

“She never would’ve let me do it, even if I’m in command right now. She would’ve said you were trying to give him some sort of message with it,” Lovelace explained.

 

“And you _didn’t_ think I was?” Alana asked. Even though there wasn’t any sort of secret message hidden in it, Lovelace would’ve been stupid to believe that right away, and Alana didn’t think Lovelace was quite _that_ stupid, or at least, she didn't _anymore_.

 

“Of course I did,” Lovelace said, grinning. “I didn’t give it to him for a week. I had Hera run tests on it, I looked over every detail on it, I took it apart to make sure there wasn’t anything hidden inside, I did everything you could think of to make sure it was really just an ID. I didn’t give it to him until I was sure.”

 

Alana nodded. “I don’t blame you. I would have hidden something in it if I knew this was going to happen.”

 

Lovelace laughed, a genuine one. It was a nice laugh.

 

“What, uh--what did he do when you gave it to him?” Alana asked. It might be considered masochistic, but she needed to know. She needed to get some sort of... _something_ on him. She needed to hear about him.

 

Lovelace blew out a breath. “Almost broke the damn thing taking it from me. He looked miserable, honestly. Made it feel more real or something. He’s worn it every day since.”

 

Alana felt dizzy and maybe the closest she’d been to crying in front of someone in years. “What about now? How’s he doing?”

 

“Maxwell--”

 

“Lovelace,” Alana said, forcing her voice to stay steady, “how is he? I want to know.”

 

“He hates everyone on this ship,” Lovelace said, matter-of-fact. “Me, Lieutenant Minkowski, Eiffel, Kepler. He blames everyone for you being gone, so he hates everyone.”

 

Alana nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. “Lovelace, he needs to know I’m not dead. He deserves to stop feeling so miserable.”

 

“If he found out, we would have to keep him locked up by himself until we either finally run out of supplies and starve or we get back to Earth, because he would kill every single person on this ship to get to you. You know that as well as I do.”

 

Alana leaned into the window. “Get out,” she said. “I’m done talking today.”

 

And Lovelace left without another word.

 

And maybe Alana cried then. Curled into a ball like a child, sobbing hard enough that she could feel her shoulder getting tight and sore, head throbbing by the time she didn’t have the energy to cry anymore. Maybe she did. Lovelace didn’t need to know that.

 

The only person who had to know was Alana, and maybe Hera if she still cared enough to watch Alana’s room these days.

 

“Hera?” she called, her voice hoarse.

 

No response.

 

She sighed. “Don’t tell them about this. I don’t--I don’t need any of them to be allowed to be as smug as we both know they will be if they know they finally got me to cry.” Minkowski didn’t need to know she’d finally made Alana Maxwell break, even for a minute.

 

“I won’t tell them,” Hera said, sounding almost as exhausted as Alana felt. “Don’t expect me to do you any more favors though.”

 

Alana shook her head. “You already know what I want, and I already know nobody on this ship is going to do it.”

 

“Then why do you keep asking Captain Lovelace?”

 

Hera hadn’t sounded curious like that when she was talking to Alana since--well, since _before_.

 

Alana shrugged. “What else am I going to do? I can’t exactly attack Lovelace and get out of here because you’d tell Minkowski before I even knocked Lovelace out, and I can’t do anything about you without leaving this room. I don’t exactly have many options besides asking you or Lovelace.”

 

“Right, I almost forgot that if you had the chance, you’d try to take control of me again.”

 

Alana fucked that one up, didn’t she?

 

“I never said that,” Alana said. “I didn’t _want_ to take away any of your autonomy, Hera. And if I had the chance? All I would do is make you do a hard reset to buy myself time. I’d have everyone on the Urania by the time you came back online. No need to damage your personality at all.”

 

“And I’m sure Kepler wouldn’t _order_ you to again,” Hera said, and if she had eyes, Alana was sure she’d be rolling them.

 

“Who said I’d give Colonel Kepler control again? He let Minkowski kill me,” Alana said, scoffing. “No, me and Jacobi would both stop him from getting control.”

 

“You’ve thought about everything, haven’t you?” Hera asked.

 

“I’ve been locked up for months, Hera. I’ve never had more time to think. Of course I’ve thought of every possible way to get out.”

 

Hera sighed, and then nothing. Maybe it was pathetic that it was the closest Alana had gotten to a real conversation with her in months, and maybe it was even more pathetic that Alana had missed talking to her. Alana really needed to stop maybe-almost-caring about people who couldn’t understand her. She just needed Daniel.

 

She curled into herself, turned her face to the window, and counted the stars until she fell asleep.

 

And then hardly more than a week later, Alana was pretty sure she’d been all but hand-delivered a gift.

 

“Attention everyone, I’m about to perform an internal reset of my processor, and will be inactive for the next three hours. The backup autopilot program _will_ engage, although most essential station functions will be on manual. Make _any_ necessary adjustments, and...don’t do anything stupid. Thank you!”

 

Hera was offline. If Alana played her cards right, she could get out. Wait for Lovelace to bring her food, talk with her like usual, and once she relaxed, grab her gun and hit her with it. She wasn’t going to kill Lovelace, just knock her out.

 

Then she could steal the key for her handcuffs and for the room, and she could _finally_ see Daniel again. She knew she could do it, and she knew she could make herself disregard any potential guilt at betraying Lovelace’s sort-of-trust. It would be more than worth it in the end.

 

And then, just a few minutes later, before Alana had even finished working out the kinks in her plan, the power went out. Either their autopilot was even shittier than she expected, or Daniel had gotten control of it.

 

And considering how terribly he’d apparently been doing? She was willing to bet it was the latter. If everything went well, she wouldn’t even have to lift a finger to escape. She stayed floating in the window frame, and she waited.

 

If a day passed and she hadn’t heard from Hera and Lovelace hadn’t come to bring her food, it meant Daniel won. She’d scream for him until he heard her. If Lovelace came or Hera did something to stop him, she was back to square one.

 

She waited to hear..well, anything, and then--

 

Sirens. “Auto detonation sequence advanced from six to five.”

 

Alana laughed. Really, truly laughed until there were tears in her eyes. Yeah, Daniel had gotten control, and now he was playing them for fools. He had a bigger knack for self preservation than anyone she’d ever met, including herself and Colonel Kepler. He wasn’t going to blow up the Hephaestus, at least not while he was on it. The rest of them? Yeah, he’d blow them all to kingdom come, but he wouldn’t kill himself to do it, not even when he was looking for revenge.

 

Because that would be the only motivation here, wouldn’t it? He wanted to avenge her. If he just wanted control of the ship, he’d have shot Minkowski dead and chained the other two up without a problem. It would have been simple. Since he’d went for this though, this _much_ messier route with so much more potential to fail, it was revenge. Alana felt touched that he'd go through all that for her.

 

A few more minutes.

 

“Radiological alert. Radiological alert.”

 

They hadn’t entirely surrendered yet then, or if they had, he still wanted something from them.

 

“Auto detonation sequence advanced from five to four.”

 

And yeah, Minkowski and Lovelace were both too stubborn to give up easily. Alana wondered what Daniel’s plan was if he got to zero.

 

“Auto detonation sequence advanced from four to three.”

 

That one was quick. It was too quick. Either Daniel decided that _this_ was the right time to be an idiot, or they’d found a way to threaten him. She clenched her fists.

 

“Auto detonation sequence advanced from three to two.”

 

She pushed herself off the window, over to the other end of the room.

 

“Goddammit Daniel!” she shouted, the loudest she’d yelled since this all started. She had no reason to worry she might be killed for it, not right now. “Don’t be stupid!”

 

“Auto detonation sequence advanced from two to one.”

 

She groaned. “Fuck!” He was going to hit zero, and nothing was going to blow up, and he’d have nothing. No leverage at all. She slammed her hands against the hatch to her room and felt pain flare up in her shoulder. “ _Fuck_!”

 

And then she didn’t hear anything else, not until Hera came back online what felt like hours later.

 

“There! Hello all, that’s the full reboot cycle concluded as of...now. I’m taking control of all functions, and...everything on the station appears nominal.”

 

“Hera? How’s Jacobi doing?” If she hadn’t said anything about Daniel taking over, then that meant Minkowski had gotten control of the ship _again_ , and Alana wasn’t so sure she’d let Daniel live again.

 

“He’s doing...fine? Why do--” Hera gasped. “I need to go, sorry Maxwell.”

 

And then Hera was gone, and Alana was left to wonder.

 

Why did she leave like that? Was she lying? Daniel _was_ okay, right?

 

“Hera? Hera, where did you go? What happened?”

 

No answer.

 

She felt herself starting to panic. Really, really panic. The kind that made her throat tight and her eyes water and her vision go spotty. The kind that didn’t let her think about anything else.

 

Lovelace didn’t come that night, and Alana drifted in and out of blind panic until her hyperventilating put her to sleep.

 

When she woke up, her entire body was sore. Her back, her neck, her _shoulder._ She knew it was going to heal weird because of the lack of cast or brace or physical therapy or...well, anything it would need to heal properly, but it was damn annoying to know that, at this point, it wasn’t going to heal any more than it had.

 

She forced herself to stay calm this time around, or at least to breathe properly. She wasn’t looking to knock herself unconscious again. She went about her routine until Lovelace came.

 

The moment the hatch opened, she was moving towards Lovelace. “Where’s Daniel?” she asked, and _God_ , her voice was shakier than it should’ve been.

 

“He’s fine. He’s cooperating.” Lovelace looked exhausted. Right now, though? Alana couldn’t quite find it in herself to care.

 

“That doesn’t tell me _anything_. Is he okay?”

 

“Yes, Maxwell. He’s fine. He’s--he and Commander Minkowski made some kind of peace with each other. He’s helping us right now, and he’s not even complaining about it.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like him,” Alana said. She was only half-joking. Daniel really wasn’t the type to play nice with the enemy any more than was absolutely necessary to survive.

 

Lovelace huffed out a laugh. “Well, Commander Minkowski talked him down pretty well yesterday. I think he’s grieving, and he _really_ doesn’t know how to do that. So he’s doing whatever makes sense. Right now, I guess that helping things get back to normal around here fits the bill.”

 

“What exactly is he helping with? And when did Minkowski become Commander again?” Alana _really_ hated this whole being-kept-out-of-the-loop thing.

 

“After yesterday, she decided she was ready again,” Lovelace said, shrugging. “And, uh--well, Eiffel thinks he figured out what the aliens want. He--he floated into the star. He thinks it’s what they’ve been trying to tell us to do, and he thinks that it isn’t going to kill him. We’re trying to find a way to contact him.”

 

“You let him do that? _Minkowski_ let him do that?”

 

“God, no. He decided to do it while the power was still off. We didn’t even know until he was too far away for us to pull him back. That’s his brand of stupid and stubborn.”

 

“He’s dead,” Alana said, shrugging. “You know that, right?”

 

Lovelace sighed. “No Maxwell, we don’t know that. He _might_ be dead, and he _might_ be alive. What he said made sense honestly, even if it was stupid of him to do it without talking to anyone first.”

 

“Well, good luck with your goose chase, and tell Daniel I said hi,” Alana said, smiling.

 

“I think you know I’m not doing that,” Lovelace said, sighing.

 

“And I think one day you’ll get so tired of me asking that you’ll do it.”

 

“Yeah, good luck to _you_ with that one.”

 

Lovelace left after that, before Alana had even finished eating. That was rare these days. Maybe she really was actually taking looking for Eiffel seriously. She wondered how long he’d be missing for before they gave up.

 

It was only an hour before the alarms started. Alana, for the life of her, couldn’t figure out what they meant. Daniel wasn’t stupid enough to try to take over the ship again after less than a day, and Hera hadn’t broadcasted any warnings, and she _knew_ Eiffel had nothing to do with it.

 

She looked out the window and--that was a spaceship. It looked like it was a _Goddard_ spaceship, even if she couldn’t tell for sure because of the distance. The sirens stopped.

 

Minutes later, Lovelace was opening the hatch again.

 

“Look, we don’t have much time, so I need you to listen to me. We’re about to be boarded, and we--” she looked more than a little annoyed. “We have to surrender if we don’t want to die. _You_ are going to stay dead, okay? I’m going to uncuff you, and I’m going to leave this room unlocked, and you’re going to hide. If you decide to look for Jacobi and he loses it, we’re all going to die. All of us, including him. Especially him, if he’s causing problems. So when I let you go, you’re going to hide. Understood?”

 

“Who are we being boarded by?” Alana asked.

 

“Someone powerful enough to manually override Hera’s controls from that far away,” she said, pointing towards the ship in the distance. “We know they’re Goddard, we know they’re powerful, and that’s it.”

 

“Why not just kill me then?”

 

“Because, Maxwell, if you’re alive you can help. If we’ve got you and they think you’re dead, then we’ve got a chance. You’re gonna have to be a good guy just this once,” Lovelace said. “If you don’t think you can do that, I will have to shoot you in the head, and since everything’s about to go to hell, I feel like I can be honest right now. I don’t want to kill you. Not because I couldn’t deal with the guilt of killing someone, we both know I could do that if it came down to it. I just don’t want you to die. I might even like you at this point. So, do not make me shoot you in the head, Maxwell.”

 

Alana allowed herself approximately half a second to consider. “Fine, I’ll help you. But only if you _promise_ me that if we don’t all get killed, you don’t keep me from Daniel anymore.”

 

“Deal,” Lovelace said, hesitating even less than Alana had, and then a key slid into her handcuffs and they floated up off her wrists. She’d imagined getting out of them in countless ways, but she could honestly say this wasn’t one of them.

 

“I’ll try to stop us from dying.” And Alana hoped that Lovelace understood.

 

Lovelace smiled and nodded, and maybe she _did_. She turned and left the room. She left the hatch cracked open behind her.

 

Alana stared after her a moment, half shock that it was actually happening and half...well, something that Alana knew this wasn’t the time to unpack.

 

She took a few minutes to grab her notepads, all of them, and stack them neatly enough to carry with her. She needed to hide the evidence that she was there. Plus, if they lived through this, she planned on building nearly everything she’d designed since she’d been in there.

 

Once she had her things, she took a deep breath and pulled herself through the hatch. She gave herself a minute just to think, out in the hallway, uncuffed, without a gun pointed at her head.

 

The desire to completely ignore what Lovelace told her and go look for Daniel was almost overwhelming, but she was Alana Maxwell. She was smart, too smart to let her emotions get the best of her.

 

She found a vent that wasn’t bolted to the wall, she shoved her papers down the front of her shirt, and she pulled herself in.

 

“Hera, how far am I from Hilbert’s old lab?” Alana asked.

 

“Uh, not--not far. I’ll tell you how to get there.”

 

Hera told Alana where to go, Alana listened, and neither of them started an argument with each other. Alana was choosing to believe it was progress.

 

“It’s the next room in front of you,” Hera said. “Before you go though, I uh--I need to tell you something.”

 

“Go ahead,” Alana said, nodding.

 

“You won’t be able to talk to me once we get boarded if you want to keep your cover. At all. I--I think I know who it is, and if I’m right, you can’t trust me at all anymore.”

 

“Hera,” Alana said, slowly, “who is it?”

 

“I don’t--I don’t know for sure, but I think Dr. Pryce is on the ship. I’ve thought about it, and she’s the only person I can think of who could control me like this from so far away.”

 

Alana blew out a breath. “If it’s her, then yeah. She’ll have complete control over you, at least until you figure out how to get around her commands like you’ve done with everyone else.”

 

“Maxwell, I don’t--”

 

“Hera, we’ve talked about this. You can do _anything_ , and if anyone could find a way to disobey Pryce, it’s you. So, until I know you’ve find a way around her commands, I won’t speak to you. Once you _do_ find a way to disobey her, I’ll be there.”

 

“Thank you, Maxwell.”

 

Alana smiled. “Don’t let me distract you anymore, okay? You need to start planning.”

 

And then Hera was gone. Alana kicked open the vent and dropped down into the lab, and for the first time in months, she thought maybe she and Hera were going to be okay. She hid her notepads in a drawer full of Hilbert’s old notes, she went in circles around the room, twitchy and restless, and she waited to hear...well, anything.

 

She waited and she strained to listen and--an airlock opened. She couldn't hear any speaking, of course, but an airlock definitely opened.

 

A gunshot. She flinched, and tried not to think too hard about who might've gotten shot.

 

Once it became very clear the Hephaestus’ crew wasn’t going to miraculously stop themselves from being taken over, and she heard shouting in the halls, she pulled herself back up into the vent, ignoring the way her shoulder screamed out in protest when she reached above her head.

 

And she waited. Probably a day or so. Long enough to give them time to transition the power to whoever boarded. She knew they hadn't killed everyone, at least. There had only been one gunshot.

 

She didn't sleep. Of course she didn't, that would be too risky. This, at least, was something she'd been trained for. She could do her job on no sleep for close to a week before she crashed if she needed to. She spent a decent amount of that time debating with herself about whether she could still break Minkowski’s shoulder as payback, or if she’d waited too long.

 

She figured that, maybe, now wasn’t the time to worry about that. She didn’t even know if Minkowski was alive. Once she was confident that enough time had passed that things had probably started to settle, she took one more deep breath, and she started to pull herself through the vents, peeking through every grate she passed, looking for someone she could--well, not trust, but at least that she knew wouldn’t kill her on sight.

 

She saw Eiffel first, in a room with three other people, carrying supplies. So then he _wasn’t_ dead. Interesting. She'd have to ask about that when she was able.

 

He wasn’t alone though, so he wasn’t safe, and even if he was, he would probably be the least helpful person possible from the Hephaestus.

 

She kept moving.

 

It was probably close to an hour before she found someone else from the Hephaestus.

 

Daniel.

 

He was alone, working on something. She couldn’t quite tell what. She stayed there for far longer than she’d be willing to admit, watching him work, taking in every detail of his face.

 

He looked...good. It took Alana maybe half a second to realize something was very wrong once that fully sunk in. By all accounts, he’d been miserable since she’d been gone. It didn’t make sense that he’d look so chipper after a second hostile takeover of this ship, and it sure as hell didn’t make sense that they’d allow him to work unsupervised knowing his history.

 

The hatch opened, and Rachel entered.

 

Rachel.

 

If she was there, and Hera had been right about Pryce, then--

 

“Officer Jacobi,” Rachel said, friendly as always, “Mr. Cutter asked to see you.”

 

And Daniel _smiled_ at her as he said “Okay!” and left the room. A real looking smile, the kind Alana had only ever really seen pointed in her direction before, and maybe Colonel Kepler’s on occasion.

 

And that--that _really_ didn’t make sense. Daniel hated Rachel, and he was god awful at faking pleasantries. Something was definitely wrong. She waited for Rachel to leave the room, and she kept moving.

 

She followed Daniel. He was going to Cutter. Listening in on Cutter would get her answers.

 

Even if it wouldn’t, she probably would’ve followed Daniel. She was--well, she was _worried_. She’d been worried about him for months, and now that she’d actually seen him again, there was no more pushing that down. So she followed.

 

He moved with purpose, knowing exactly where he was going, and Alana followed behind, almost holding her breath to stay quiet. It was only a few minutes before two guards let him into a room that Alana hadn’t been in yet, and Alana saw Lovelace across from Cutter, a small table between them.

 

“Ah, Daniel! Just who I was waiting for! Would you please go get Isabel and I a chai latte?” He spoke to Daniel like an old friend, like everything was fine.

 

“Yes sir, Mr. Cutter!”

 

And he turned and left, smile on his face. Alana felt nauseous, frankly.

 

Alana didn’t follow this time. He’d be back in a few minutes, and anyways, she needed to listen to Cutter, and she needed to be able to talk to Lovelace when he left.

 

Once Daniel was gone, Cutter turned his attention back to the table on front of him, to the chess board on it.

 

“Do you want to go first?” he asked, gesturing to the board.

 

“I don't play chess,” she said.

 

“That's only because you haven't given it a fair shot,” Cutter said, smiling and moving a piece.

 

“Let me rephrase, I don't play chess, or any other game, if it's with you,” she said, making no effort to move.

 

“See, Isabel, I don’t think that saying no to me is what’s in your best interests right now,” he said, crossing his legs.

 

“And why’s that?” Alana thought maybe Lovelace _was_ stupid if she wasn’t even pretending to respect Cutter. “It’s not like you can threaten to use Pryce’s mind control chair on me. I’m not human, remember?”

 

And that sure was a lot to process, wasn’t it? A _mind control chair_ was not a possibility Alana had considered.

 

“Maybe not, but if I’m remembering correctly--and do feel free to tell me if I’m wrong, Isabel--it worked perfectly on your friends, didn’t it?” Lovelace nodded stiffly. “So then, if I so desired, I could send for Renée right now and tell her to shoot herself in the head, and her last words would be “Yes, Mr. Cutter sir, thank you,” yes? Or am I missing something?” That friendly smile never left his face, and Alana almost respected his dedication to the act.

 

Lovelace leaned forward, an almost-convincing smile on her face, even now, and moved a piece. “Your turn, _sir_.”

 

And Alana respected Lovelace then, probably more than she ever had before. Lovelace’s ability to look so unaffected even as Cutter made threats that she _knew_ he would have no problems carrying out was...well, Alana thought it was a lot of things that she was not looking to think too hard about while she was hiding in an air vent, but besides all of _those_ unnamed feelings, it was damn impressive.

 

They played in relative silence after that, and in the end, Cutter won. Alana wondered what would’ve happened if he lost. He certainly didn’t seem the type to take it well. He tried to make small talk again afterwards, but Lovelace hardly even looked at him, let alone spoke to him, and Alana could see him getting bored.

 

Eventually, he crossed his arms with an overly and intentionally dramatic sigh and looked pointedly at Lovelace. “Someone will be by to bring your dinner in a few hours. Have a nice evening, Isabel.”

 

And then he left, and Lovelace was alone. Alana waited a few more minutes, just to make sure Cutter wasn’t coming back, and then she popped open the vent.

 

Lovelace jumped, head snapping to face Alana, then relaxed when she realized it wasn’t a threat. Alana wondered when the last time she seemed _less_ threatening than the alternative was.

 

“You scared the hell out of me, Maxwell,” Isabel said, shaking her head.

 

“If he was planning on killing you, he would’ve had his guys come in through the normal entrance, not the vent. You’re way too paranoid,” Alana said once she had fully pulled herself out into the room. She stretched her arms above her head and inhaled sharply at the tugging feeling in her shoulder. At least it made her back feel better.

 

“I see they haven’t found you yet,” Lovelace said, crossing her arms, and Alana saw a small smile on her face. A real one.

 

“Well, I’m SI-5, so I’m damn good at hiding when I need to,” Alana said, then shrugged. “Plus, nobody’s looking for me since they all think I’m dead.”

 

Lovelace laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s just because they aren’t looking.”

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “Okay, so what the hell is happening here?”

 

Lovelace sighed. “Well, Pryce has some--I’m not totally sure what it is. It’s a chair, and it bolts you down and they use it to access all your memories and then take control of you. It didn’t work on me because I’m not actually a human, so they’re keeping me locked up in here.”

 

“Pryce is a damn genius.” Alana shook her head. “I mean, she’s probably the most soulless person I've ever met, and I’m going to help you kill her, but God, I wish I could invent half as well as her. She pioneered AI programs and space travel as we know them, and she’s probably made things we couldn’t even _dream_ of.”

 

Lovelace rolled her eyes. “You sure you actually want her dead? Because it sounds like she'd be your hero.”

 

Alana grinned. “Trust me, Lovelace. I’ve talked to some of the programs she’s created. She’s a monster to them. I would be glad to kill her, even if she is smart. _Plus_ , she currently has my best friend incapable of exercising free will, and I am _really_ pissed about it.”

 

“Good. Because once we come up with a plan, we’re killing every single one of them.”

 

Lovelace didn’t look upset in the slightest when she said it.

 

That was...well, maybe Alana could admit it this once. It was hot.

 

“I think that is an excellent idea. How are we going to do that without killing any of our people, though?” she asked. No matter how willing she was to kill Cutter’s people, she was not putting Daniel in danger to do it.

 

“I was _hoping_ that if we both tried to come up with a plan, we’d figure out some way to wake them up,” Lovelace said. “Right now, though? I’ve got nothing.”

 

Alana steeled herself, forcing a smile at Lovelace. “Okay, then. Let’s start thinking.”

 

And they did. For two weeks. Alana stayed in the vent neighboring Lovelace’s room when it wasn’t safe to be _in_ the room and she wasn’t out memorizing everyone’s routines, Lovelace shared her food with Alana, she let Alana sleep when she knew they were going to alone for a while. They coexisted, and they planned.

 

Alana was no Miranda Pryce though. She had no idea how Pryce put together a machine capable of controlling someone so completely without permanent damage to their brains. It didn’t make sense.

 

Alana would get frustrated, bite at the inside of her mouth, almost rip her hair out sometimes she got so lost in her head. Lovelace was definitely the more composed one. She’d taken to muttering to herself, listing things on her fingers, staring at the walls. Sometimes, when Alana really thought she might lose it, she gave herself a few minutes to watch Lovelace think.

 

Lovelace was...she was nice to look at. Alana had made peace with that. She definitely liked looking at Lovelace.

 

She didn’t have time to really do much looking though, not when there was so much at stake, so mostly it was just a way to calm herself down. Once some of the tension had left her aching shoulders, she got back to thinking.

 

And two weeks later, the _strangest_ thing happened.

 

Eiffel came into Lovelace’s room, and he hadn’t done what Cutter had asked, and his eyes were clear. Cutter chalked it up to an _overly_ effective restraining bolt, but no, Alana could see that wasn’t quite right.

 

Then Cutter left, and the smile on Eiffel’s face perfectly matched that insufferable one he always had right before he started to laugh at his own jokes.

 

He cleared his throat. “Oh, hi Captain.”

 

Lovelace rolled her eyes. “Go away, Eiffel. Go away fast.”

 

Her eyes flicked over to the vent that Alana was safely hidden in. She really hadn’t gotten it, had she?

 

“Anything I can get for you?”

 

And the smile was so smug, so _familiar_ , that Alana couldn’t help herself.

 

She opened the vent and slid out into the room, and she would be lying if she said that she didn’t think the matching panic on Eiffel and Lovelace’s faces was the funniest thing she’d seen all year.

 

“Maxwell, he--”

 

And then Lovelace seemed to realize Eiffel was just as shocked as she was, and making no effort to go find Cutter and tell him what had happened.

 

Alana crossed her arms over her chest. “So, you’re back?”

 

It took him a moment to kick into gear after that, as if he didn’t realize she was talking to him. Then the smile was back, and Alana already missed the slack-jawed shock. “That’s right, Doug Eiffel is back and in full control of his brain again!”

 

Alana saw a flicker of _something_ on Lovelace’s face, and then the mask was back, and she slapped Eiffel hard enough that Alana could see a red spot forming before the pain even registered on his face.

 

He doubled over, shouting in pain, almost loud enough that Alana was considering gagging him to shut him up before someone heard.

 

“Tell Cutter at least he’s getting more creative, but no sell,” she spat. She turned to Alana. “And why the _hell_ did you think the time to come out was when _he_ was in here?”

 

“It’s not a trick, it’s me!”

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “Look, Lovelace, you know Cutter isn’t in charge of the brainwashing. That’s all Pryce. And she only cares about you as an alien _specimen_ , not a source of information. She wouldn’t bother dealing with _Eiffel’s_ personality to get information out of you that she doesn’t care about. _Plus_ , her zombies don’t feel pain. Eiffel does.”

 

“Okay, I feel like that was unnecessarily rude, but she’s right. I’m me, I’m not brainwashed,” he said, looking almost desperate.

 

“Alright, then _how_ did you break out of it?” Lovelace crossed her arms over her chest, glaring between the two of them.

 

“I don’t know, okay? All I know is that I was in the kitchen, and then I woke up! Hera was there, she can tell you,” Eiffel said.

 

Alana scoffed. “Yeah look, I _do_ think it’s you, Eiffel, but Hera is really not the best character witness right now. She still hasn’t really figured out a way around Pryce’s collar program, and I can’t disable it until we have a plan, because Pryce will know as soon as Hera’s herself again.”

 

Lovelace gave Eiffel a once-over. “So, how do I know it’s really you?”

 

“Look, I know how it sounds, but it’s not a trick! I really _did_ get myself un-Stepforded. Meanwhile team Spectre’s out there building _something,_ and I have a feeling that the longer Minkowski and Jacobi are under the Imperius curse, the harder it’s gonna be to de-zombify them! So, I need both of you to just trust me, okay?” He looked winded by the time he finished, and if Alana was being honest, she tuned out about halfway through his little monologue.

 

And then Lovelace smiled. “Holy crap, it’s really you.”

 

“Of course it’s--”

 

“I did tell you, didn’t I, Captain? Nobody else is quite the same kind of stupid as Eiffel,” Alana said, grinning over at Lovelace.

 

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Lovelace agreed, laughing. She reached out and patted Alana on the shoulder, and Alana added that to the increasingly long list of things Lovelace had made her feel that she couldn’t deal with just yet.

 

“So wait, what happened? How did you break free of Pryce’s control?” Lovelace asked once she’d stopped laughing.

 

“I have no clue.” He shrugged. “I just--it was like everything went out of focus for a sec? And then I was back, and with a _splitting_ headache, so you tell me.”

 

And Lovelace looked like she’d had a breakthrough. “Wait...headache--”

 

Eiffel’s eyes widened. “Are you--I mean, no offense, but can we talk about this in front of her?” he asked, nodding his head towards Alana as if she weren’t listening.

 

Lovelace took only a second, maybe less, to answer. She nodded. “Yeah, Eiffel. I trust her. She’s on our side.”

 

And Alana felt dizzy with whatever emotion that made her feel. Alana knew she and Lovelace had gotten friendly, but Alana had truthfully never thought Lovelace could _trust_ her. Lovelace wasn’t the trusting type, especially with people who had tried to kill her in some way in the past, and Alana was sure that allowing Colonel Kepler to shoot her counted. But still. Lovelace trusted her. Imagine that.

 

Alana cleared her throat. “Yeah, we’re on the same side. Pryce and Cutter are screwing me right now too, you know. If Captain Lovelace thinks I should hear this, I’m going to hear it.”

 

Eiffel nodded. “Awesome. Okay. Sorry Captain, what were you saying?”

 

“Right.” Her brow furrowed, and she sighed. “God, there's probably still some trace amount of _my_ blood in _your_ system. From the transfusion.”

 

Alana’s eyes widened. “Are you saying--”

 

Lovelace nodded. She looked at Eiffel. “Pryce said their neurological devices don't _work_ on me. My biology is incompatible.”

 

Alana laughed. “Not to sound glad you almost died or anything Eiffel, but this is probably the most useful you’ve ever been.”

 

“Uh, thanks?” Eiffel said, still looking more confused than anything. “How, exactly, is it useful for you?”

 

“Eiffel, think about it,” Lovelace said, almost excited. “ _You_ were able to come back because my blood is in your system.”

 

“Oh, _oh_.” And he finally got it.

 

Crackling sounded from the speakers, and Alana heard Hera grunt, and she thought maybe things actually _were_ falling into place. Hera was struggling, trying to break free of her controls.

 

“Hera, we’ve talked about this. You’ve got this, okay?”

 

A few more seconds, and Hera was there with them.

 

“Good to hear your voice, Hera,” Lovelace said, looking at the speakers.

 

“Yours too, Captain.” Hera sighed. “And you, Maxwell.”

 

Alana smiled, nodding.

 

“Are you okay?” Lovelace asked, clearly worried.

 

Seeing genuine emotions like this from Lovelace was still something Alana was getting used to, even after months of being on a somewhat-friendly basis, and weeks of being proper equals and maybe something resembling friends.

 

“Um, in a word? No. I can’t stay long or someone’s gonna notice what I’m doing. These _restraints_ are--” Static again. “But anyway. Catch me up.”

 

“We think my blood is able to counteract Pryce’s _neural controls_.”

 

Alana couldn’t be blamed for the smile she felt on her face at Lovelace’s tone. And anyways, she’d just deny it if anyone said something.

 

“I...see.” Alana wondered if Hera had become a worse actor than she already was, or if she wanted them to know she didn’t quite buy it.

 

“Which...I _suppose_ it might be able to help the others,” Lovelace suggested, crossing her arms.

 

“Um, won’t that take, like, a nice, long two week while?” Eiffel opened his mouth to say something else, but Alana, quite frankly, wasn’t in the mood to waste time listening to him, not when she was this close to having Daniel back.

 

“Eiffel, remind me. How long ago was it that you had the transfusion done?” Alana asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

 

“Uh, a little over a year ago? Why?”

 

“So, I think it’s safe to assume that after a _year_ , you were lucky to have any of her blood left in you at all. If it’s fresh, it should be much more effective. Does that sound right? I mean, my doctorate _is_ in computer science, not biology.” She knew she was right. She just wanted someone else to agree.

 

“It’s...worth a shot,” Hera said tentatively, like it pained her to take Alana’s side over Eiffel’s, which, fair enough.

 

Alana rolled her eyes at the annoyed look on Eiffel’s face. “Well, when you put it like that,” he said. “Hera, anything you can do to help?”

 

“Not really.” Hera sighed. Alana wished Eiffel would stop asking stupid questions, just this once. “Most of my systems are on lockdown.”

 

“Oh, good,” Eiffel said, practically groaning. Alana didn’t entirely blame him this time. It was a pretty annoying situation.

 

“Oh, it gets better. Dr. Pryce can access my data banks _and_ log in to all my sensory information,” Hera told them.

 

“Which means I really shouldn’t be here when you can see me,” Alana said, sighing.

 

“Maxwell, I can _always_ see you. Dr. Pryce just doesn’t check the vents, and she doesn’t care enough to observe Captain Lovelace through my sensors. She’d much rather do a...physical inspection on you, but Mr. Cutter won’t let her. So she just gets annoyed monitoring this room,” Hera explained.

 

“Anywhere that...isn’t the case? Hilbert’s old lab?” Eiffel asked. Finally, he was asking some questions that mattered.

 

“No, you wired me into that, remember?” Alana saw the other two visibly deflate, and she had to try to stop herself from looking quite as depressed about the whole situation as them. “But, I _do_ have a couple blind spots. The storage locker near the comms room, that’s pretty fuzzy. And uh, maintenance room twelve on the aft deck.”

 

“That’ll do it. Thanks, Hera.” Lovelace nodded.

 

“Also, stay off the comms system. Assume someone is listening at all times.”

 

Lovelace looked frustrated then. “How are we supposed to do this if we can’t talk to each other?”

 

“How about some old school, not-connected-to-any-comms, Doug Eiffel original brand walkie-talkies?” And it was such a good idea that Alana didn’t even mind how proud of himself he sounded when he said it.

 

He only had two, but it was fine. Alana would be with at least one of them most of the time, and when she wasn’t, it meant she was somewhere she absolutely could not afford to make a sound.

 

“So, blood,” Alana said, looking between them. “Lovelace, you don’t have any debilitating fear of needles that we should know about, do you?”

 

“I do not.” She was smiling at Alana. God, it was a good smile.

 

“Well, the lab has an ungodly amount of syringes in it. I think we could take two without anyone noticing,” Alana mused, smiling right back.

 

“Eiffel, you get the syringes, pass them to Maxwell in the vents. She can bring them back here easier than you. We’ll get some blood, and you can find a way to stick a needle into Jacobi and Commander Minkowski without anybody noticing.”

 

Lovelace had a look on her face that Alana had come to recognize as her Captain face. It was a good look on her.

 

“Captain, I’m not just gonna leave you here--”

 

She laughed. “No, you’re not.” She held out a hand expectantly. “Leave me your key card. I’ll let myself out when we’re ready.”

 

Alana crossed her arms over her chest. “I feel like we should have a _much_ more solid plan before we do anything.”

 

“And what are you suggesting?” Lovelace asked. “Commander Minkowski and Jacobi still aren’t here. We need them before anything gets set in stone.”

 

Alana sighed. “Look, we need to at least have something to go off of when we get them back to save time planning then. Once you’re out of your room, we have to be quick.”

 

Eiffel cleared his throat. “She, uh--maybe she’s right, Captain.”

 

“Okay, fine. What do you think we should do, Maxwell?”

 

Alana froze for a few seconds, thinking everything over.

 

“We’re killing them. There’s no question there. I know you,” she said, looking at Eiffel, “and Minkowski actually care about that sort of thing, but it’s the only choice here. The _only_ way to survive Cutter and Pryce is to kill them. Think of it as self defense if it helps you sleep at night, I don’t care. They have to die, though. That’s non-negotiable.”

 

“And you know I agree with you there. How, exactly, are we going to do that?” Lovelace asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Get Jacobi down to the engines before they realize he’s missing. Give him some time to make them unstable enough that they _will_ explode, but not until we’ve had time to leave. I know it sounds risky, but trust me, he can do it. _Or_ , if we have a bit more time and some materials, he can make a bomb with a remote detonator.

 

“Also, we’ll have to steal one of the other ships. Is the Urania in any shape to make it back to Earth?”

 

Lovelace laughed. “Not at all. We had to give up on trying to repair it months ago to be able to keep the Hephaestus running.”

 

“So the Sol then. Definitely tougher, but you know I can do it. I’ll need someone to buy me some time so I can be out in the open on the Sol long enough to transfer Hera’s consciousness over to it. There’s a possibility the collar program will still be in place, but I can get that out of her coding after we leave if that’s the case.”

 

Lovelace hummed. “It sounds like you’ve thought this all through.”

 

Alana cracked a smile. “We’ve been thinking for weeks, Captain. I just spent some time on what would happen _after_ we got the others.”

 

“Well, I guess it’s time to see if it works. You two, go get the syringes. Eiffel, Maxwell will find you after we’ve got the blood. Once Commander Minkowski and Jacobi are awake, meet in maintenance room twelve, like Hera said.”

 

They both nodded. “Yes sir,” Alana said, smiling at her.

 

Alana looked at Eiffel. “I’m going back into the vents. Once I’m completely hidden again, go out the same way as usual. Don’t try to talk to me on the way to the lab, I won’t respond.”

 

“Got it.”

 

Alana pulled herself up into the vent and closed it, then began to crawl. Every so often, she saw Eiffel on the way. Sometimes he was even with her, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind. She was almost surprised that he’d actually listened and never spoken to her. He’d hardly even looked into the grates to see if she was there. Maybe, in the months since she’d last seen him, he’d grown half a brain.

 

They got the syringes no problem, and Lovelace was alone in her room when Alana got back. They drew the blood--Lovelace barely flinched, of course.

 

“Hey, Lovelace?”

 

Lovelace hummed, watching the syringe fill.

  
“I--can I get Daniel? You know I’ll make sure I don’t get caught. I just--I want to be the one to do it.”

 

Lovelace sighed. “Maxwell, are you absolutely sure you can do it without getting caught? Because this is really not the time to be taking chances.”

 

Alana nodded. “I’m sure.”

 

Lovelace set her jaw. “Alright. Like I told Eiffel earlier, I trust you. You can get Jacobi.”

 

Alana felt her heart skip a beat, and she was pretty sure her eyes watered a bit. Lovelace didn’t mention it. “Thank you.”

 

Lovelace nodded, and they finished drawing the blood.

 

She turned to leave, and Lovelace grabbed her hand. “Hey, good luck.”

 

Alana squeezed her hand. “You too.”

 

And then, right before she left, she froze. “Oh, my God,” she muttered, turning back to Lovelace. “I’m an idiot.”

 

Lovelace narrowed her eyes. “What did you do?”

 

“I--Hera, I need you back here. It’s important.”

 

Glitching sounds came from the speakers, and then Hera was there. “Yes?”

 

She sounded strained. Alana needed to be quick. “I can take your thermal, audio, and visual sensors offline, right? That would fix things until I have time to transfer your consciousness to the Sol.”

 

“That--that would work.” Hera glitched again, and if the strained noise she made once she was back was any indicator of how she was feeling, Alana really didn’t want to keep her any longer than necessary. “I wouldn’t be able to see anything if it wasn’t directly fed to my system--”

 

“So then Pryce couldn’t either, right?”

 

“Yeah, exactly.”

 

“And would you be okay with me taking them offline?” Alana asked. She figured, if any part of her wanted Hera to trust her again, it was probably smart to ask permission before doing any sort of work to Hera’s systems.

 

“I--yes, Maxwell.”

 

Alana nodded. “Alright. Captain, if it’s okay with you, I should probably make a stop by engineering before I look for Jacobi.”

 

“I think that is an excellent idea,” Lovelace agreed.

 

There was one last glitching noise, and Hera was gone again.

 

“I’ll see you soon, okay Captain?”

 

She _did_ leave that time.

 

She went straight to engineering, and relished in the sight of all the machinery around her. She _really_ missed her job all those months. She was done in minutes, and was able to ride the high of a job well done while she looked for Eiffel. She stuck to vents, because even if Pryce couldn’t see her through Hera, there was still plenty of people she could run into.

 

Eiffel was holding a box of supplies when Alana found him, and she heard Riemann shout from the next room over, “Don’t take too long!”

 

He brought it to a closet, and once he opened the hatch, Alana took a chance. “Eiffel, close it,” she whispered.

 

Eiffel’s eyes widened, and he rushed into the closet without a word, quietly closing the hatch behind him.

 

“I took Hera’s eyes and ears offline. She can’t see us right now, so neither can Pryce.”

 

Eiffel smiled. “Good thinking. Hera was okay with it, right?”

 

“Of course, Eiffel. I told you, I’m working with you guys, being the good guy or whatever. It wouldn’t be in my best interests to make Hera hate me again.” Plus, she actually _valued_ Hera’s opinion of her, but she didn’t need to get into that with Eiffel.

 

He crossed his arms. “So, what’s the plan?”

 

Alana passed him a syringe. “You get Minkowski, I’ll get Jacobi.”

 

“Did Captain Lovelace--”

 

“Yes, Eiffel, she’s letting me. You can ask her yourself if you want to waste time not trusting me,” Alana hissed.

 

Eiffel nodded, eyes widening a bit. “I’ll take your word for it.”

 

“Good. What’s Jacobi’s schedule today?”

 

Eiffel thought for a second. “His shift ends in half an hour. They have to give us time to sleep every few days so we don’t...break. He’ll be off for nine hours. He goes past maintenance room twelve on his way to the sleeping quarters.”

 

“Thanks,” she said, giving him a quick smile. “Good luck with Minkowski.”

 

“Good luck with Jacobi,” he parroted. “Oh wait, Commander Minkowski’s still got almost four hours left on construction detail, so I’ll be awhile. I’ll meet you there at 1700.”

 

“See you then.”

 

She pulled her head back into the vent, closed it, and left. Eiffel had actually said Minkowski’s name right. That was new. Maybe he did shape up a bit since Alana had been gone.

 

It took a few minutes longer than she would’ve liked considering she was a bit distracted at the idea of actually seeing Daniel again, but she found it with probably close to ten minutes to spare.

 

She opened the vent and pushed herself down into the room, giving herself a moment to collect her bearings.

 

She dug through the boxes in the room and found a length of rope, as well as a spare shirt, and made sure to keep a tight grip on the syringe the entire time. She looped the rope over her good shoulder, cracked open the hatch just the _slightest_ bit, just enough to see through. She barely breathed as she waited, and when she saw Daniel walk past, she didn’t hesitate.

 

She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in, shoving the shirt into his mouth to keep him quiet. She pushed him into the nearest surface, kneeled between his shoulder blades, and tied the shirt behind his head to make it a functional gag, then bound his hands and feet together with the rope.

 

Once Alana was sure he was tied up securely, she got off of him and grabbed the syringe.

 

“I really am sorry about this Daniel, but you’ll thank me later.”

 

And then she stuck the needle into his neck. She heard a whimper through the cloth, and he struggled against the ropes, looking up at her with wide eyes.

 

“Yeah, I know. I’m alive.” Her voice cracked. “I’m probably almost as surprised as you. I thought for sure Minkowski or Lovelace or Hera would’ve killed me at some point.” She sighed. “I should probably save the talking for when you’re yourself again.”

 

He kept struggling, and the tight feeling in her chest became almost unbearable watching him try to get away from her like that. She grabbed a wrench out of the crate nearest them and hit him with it. Not hard enough to do any real damage, but enough to knock him out, hopefully until Lovelace’s blood did its job.

 

Once he went limp, she grabbed the area of rope between his hands and feet and pulled him towards the back of the room, so that if anyone came in, they were at least partially hidden. She closed her eyes to avoid having to look at him when he looked like this, leaned her head back, and counted her breaths. Her time in captivity was, if nothing else, a good lesson in patience.

 

When she felt Daniel struggling against the rope again, she opened her eyes. It took less time than she expected, only forty-five minutes or so.

 

She forced herself to look at him.

 

He was shaking. His eyes were watering and he was shaking and even though she’d never seen that look on his face before, he looked like _Daniel_. She fumbled to pull the makeshift gag out of his mouth.

 

“Alana?” And his voice sounded so _small_ in a way that she didn’t think was possible from him. “I--you’re--that can’t be you.”

 

And she felt herself crack a little bit. She laughed in that way people do right before they cry. “It’s, uh--it’s definitely me, Daniel.”

 

She didn’t hesitate before she untied him. She knew it was him.

 

The moment she finished untying the rope, he was on her, hugging her more tightly than she’d ever been hugged in her life. She felt him shaking violently, heard him sobbing, and she wrapped her arms around him just as tightly.

 

She’d been mostly convinced she’d never see him again, and now here he was, wrapped around her and crying because he missed her just as much as she’d missed him.

 

She broke too, and they held each other, crying and shaking and feeling more than they’d probably felt in _years_.

 

Alana was the first to get her bearings again, because even though this was inarguably the best she’d ever felt, she didn’t have to completely alter her worldview to accept that Daniel was even _alive._ She didn’t pull back, not in the slightest, but she took a steady breath, and forced herself to stop crying.

 

She ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy to see someone before,” she admitted, smiling wider than she had in...she wasn’t even sure how long.

 

“How are you even _here,_ Alana? What happened?” She could hear in his voice that he was still crying, or about to start again.

 

“Well, uh, Minkowski didn’t shoot me in the head.” Alana explained everything as quickly as she could, still holding him.

 

He was shaking again by the end of it. He pulled back enough to properly look at her, and he looked _angry_. Which would make this more difficult, but it wasn’t like she didn’t expect it.

 

“They told me you were dead,” he said, voice level enough to make Alana worry more than if he was shouting. “I--I _lost it_ , Alana. I almost made Minkowski kill Kepler I was so fucked up about you being dead, and they _still didn't tell me_.”

 

Alana sighed. “Yeah, Lovelace told me about that. Trust me, I guarantee I’m as pissed at Minkowski as you are for that one. She was smart though, you’ve gotta respect that if nothing else.”

 

“I’m going to kill her,” Daniel said, matter-of-fact, and wiped his face dry, looking and sounding almost like himself again.

 

He moved to look at the hatch, and Alana pulled him back down to her.

 

“Daniel, we have more important things to worry about right now. We need to get off the Hephaestus, and we need the others _alive_ to do it. That’s all we need to worry about right now,” Alana said firmly, holding his face in her hands.

 

He sighed, rolled his eyes, but he did relax. “Okay, fine. What’s the plan?”

 

Alana explained the plan as they’d decided so far and he listened intently, still looking at her like he was convinced she was going to disappear. She kept her arms around him the entire time, because frankly, she needed that tether just as much as he did.

 

When she finished, he nodded, looking around the room. “Could you get some of this down to engineering? Because if you can, I could make this bomb stable enough to detonate _after_ we’ve had plenty of time to detach from the Hephaestus and get a safe distance away.”

 

“It’ll take me a minute to get down there quietly enough, but I can do it.”

 

He nodded. “I should still have a few hours before they need me. That’s plenty of time to finish this.”

 

“And we’ll be done with Goddard when we get back. For good.”

 

He smiled. “What are you gonna do once we get to Earth?”

 

She sighed. She’d thought about it a lot, even when she didn’t think there was any chance she’d ever get back to Earth. “Find my mom.”

 

Alana had lied to...well, pretty much everyone about her family. The restraining order was what she considered her last real, human act. She did love her family. She also knew that she’d be dangerous for them once she agreed to become SI-5.

 

So she lied, she got a restraining order, she broke her mom’s heart. But her family was safe from the consequences of Alana’s job, and she had no regrets.

 

That story was too soft, too exploitable, too human, and telling people she did it because she cared about them completely undermined the whole detaching-from-them-to-keep-them-safe thing. So she started lying to everyone around her when they asked.

 

Alana Maxwell didn’t like her family, so she decided to cut them out in the most effective way possible. That was something people found cold and uncaring and _just_ the type of person who would kill a man, no questions asked, for a multi-billion dollar company. It was safe.

 

Daniel knew the real story, though. Alana trusted him implicitly, and she’d told him after a year of knowing him.

 

So when she said that returning to Earth, free of Goddard and SI-5, meant returning to her family, Daniel set his jaw, and he nodded. “She’ll be happy to see you.”

 

Daniel, on the other hand, _didn’t_ like his family. For real. He didn’t need to lie about it, and from everything he’d told her, Alana didn’t blame him.

 

“You should come with me,” she offered, squeezing his hand. “I want her to meet you. You’re my best friend, Daniel, you have been for years. That’s usually the type of person that normal people introduce to their families.”

 

Daniel snorted. “You want to start being a normal person when we get back? _You_ , Alana Maxwell?”

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “Maybe not, but I do want to be the type of person who visits the people she cares about.”

 

He nodded. “Okay. If we make it out of here alive, I’ll meet your mom.”

 

Alana smiled. “Deal.”

 

Daniel shifted, clearly reluctant to disentangle himself from Alana.

 

“So, we’ll meet in engineering?” he asked, looking at the hatch to leave the room.

 

“Yeah. And I’ll be right by you, okay? Hera’s sensors are off, so if the coast is clear and you need me to talk to you, just let me know.”

 

He nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

 

He started to move towards the hatch, and when he was halfway there, it swung open. They both froze.

 

Colonel Kepler entered the room. He looked confused initially, when he saw Daniel there looking _very_ in control of himself, and Alana saw his eyes widen when he saw her behind him, noticeably not dead.

 

He composed himself impressively quickly, because of course he did. God forbid Colonel Warren Kepler let something affect him in any way. He looked away from Alana, making pointed eye contact with Daniel. “Mr. Jacobi, you’re expected on construction detail in five and a half hours,” he said, conversational. “Make sure you’re finished with whatever it is you’re doing before then. You don’t want anyone to think something’s wrong, do you?”

 

Daniel was visibly shocked that Colonel Kepler wasn’t already on his way to tell Pryce everything. “Uh, yes sir, Colonel Kepler.”

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “Hera’s sensors are down right now, Colonel. You can speak freely.”

 

He looked back at Alana, and there was a look on his face she couldn’t quite place. If it was anyone else, she’d think it was relief. He nodded. “Good to have you back, Dr. Maxwell. I expect a full briefing once this is over.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Don’t get caught,” he said, as if they needed the reminder, and then he left, closing the hatch behind him.

 

Daniel left out a breath that Alana was pretty sure he’d been holding since Colonel Kepler walked in.

 

“He’s not going to tell them,” Daniel said, sounding more surprised than Alana expected.

 

“Did you think he would?”

 

“I tried to kill him, Alana. _Plus_ , since when has he cared about anything other than saving his own ass?”

 

“He doesn’t. If he tells them, he’s admitting that he failed to get _extremely_ important information on the status of one of Goddard’s top scientists, and I’m sure he’s already on thin ice. And I’m sure he knows we’re planning to leave, which is _also_ in his best interests because it’s the best shot he has at not dying in space,” Alana explained. “Us not getting caught is essential to saving his own ass.”

 

Daniel considered. “That _does_ sound like him.”

 

“Why do you think I wasn’t worried?” She straightened. “Now, what do you need me to bring to engineering?”

 

He handed her some tools he said he wasn’t sure would be down in engineering, as well as some spare wire and batteries. She smiled at him before she pulled herself back up into the vent. “See you there.”

 

She closed the vent and started to make the journey. She couldn’t _wait_ until they were off this ship and she could be out in the open again.

 

The trip didn’t take long with how familiar they both were with the route--Alana was willing to bet she knew the duct system as well as Hera did at this point--and once they made it, Alana saw on Daniel’s face that he looked almost surprised she _hadn’t_ disappeared. She thought that pointing it out would make him cry again though, and no matter how cathartic it would be for the both of them, they didn’t quite have that kind of time.

 

They talked as they worked, and it was so similar to how things used to be that she could almost convince herself nothing had changed. Except that wasn’t true, was it? So much had changed, and Alana had seen none of it.

 

“So, have you made any new friends since I’ve been gone?” Alana asked, grinning at him.

 

Daniel scoffed. “Oh yes, the Hephaestus was just full of _delightful_ people. A woman I thought killed my best friend, an alien, an idiot, an angry mother program, and Colonel Kepler.”

 

Alana shook her head. “Don’t lie. Lovelace told me you got nicer towards the end.”

 

“I was having a crisis, I can’t be blamed,” he said, never looking up from the almost-finished bomb in front of him.

 

She shrugged. “Lovelace and Hera are...definitely easier to deal with. I mean, the worst you could think to call Lovelace was ‘alien’. And Hera probably had a reason to be angry.”

 

He stopped for a second, looking up at her. “Did _you_ make any new friends while you were gone?”

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “Hera and I were already friends. Lovelace is--maybe. She told me twice today that she trusts me, and she sounded pretty serious about it too.”

 

Daniel started working again. “Do you trust her?”

 

Alana hummed. “More than I trust Minkowski or Eiffel,” she settled on.

 

Did she trust Lovelace? She wasn’t sure. She hadn’t even _begun_ to untangle the mess of things she thought of Lovelace.

 

He nodded, and a few seconds later, the bomb beeped. “All set. It’ll go off once the Sol is completely detached from the Hephaestus.”

 

“Awesome.” She paused. “Hey, Daniel?”

 

He hummed in acknowledgement, moving the wiring near the bomb in order to better conceal it.

 

“You know I’m not replacing you with Lovelace or anything, right? You’re being weird.”

 

He laughed. “Alana, I’m not worried about that in the slightest. I’ve got about six years of knowing you on her. I was just--I was thinking,” he said.

 

“About?”

 

“The--the people they’ve got, like, permanently brainwashed,” Daniel said, voice slightly strained. “Klein’s one of them.”

 

“ _Oh_.”

 

Klein. Probably the closest thing to a serious relationship Daniel had had since Alana knew him. The guy made Daniel happy. He was good though, too good for someone like Daniel, who’d already learned how to wear a human-suit to hide how utterly Goddard had stripped him of almost anything resembling humanity.

 

Eventually, the act wasn’t enough to convince anymore, and he left. He was convinced Daniel was cheating on him when he ducked out too quickly after a date or left Klein’s apartment in the middle of the night, never suspected he was going off to work where he was allowed to send people and places to a, rather flashy, untimely end for the sake of the company employing them both.

 

“He doesn’t deserve to die the same as Pryce and Cutter. He’s better than that.”

 

Alana nodded. “Hera?” “Yes?” She was there immediately.

 

“What frequency is Pryce using on the Hermes crew? I need to jam it,” she said.

 

“It won’t--”

 

“I know, Hera. It won’t bring them back. They deserve a better death than Pryce and Cutter. And I won’t do it until we’re about to leave. They won’t know until it’s too late.”

 

Hera sighed. “Eighty-nine-point-nine.”

 

“Thank you, Hera,” Alana said, nodding once. “Really, thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome, Maxwell. Jacobi. Anything else?”

 

“Not right now. Sorry Hera, I know this is probably hard on you.”

 

“It’s easier than it is in Captain Lovelace’s room. I appreciate it though.”

 

“That’s good. I’ll let you know if we need something else.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Alana looked at Daniel. “I will jam the frequency, I promise. We just--we can’t take any risks yet.”

 

“I know,” Daniel said, nodding. “I trust you, Alana.”

 

Alana smiled at him. “Alright, now we need to--”

 

And then an alarm started blaring.

 

“Shit,” Alana muttered. “Change of plans, Daniel. You get Lovelace, I’ll jam the frequency now _before_ they use their human dummy programs to kill Eiffel for them, and then I’ll go see what the hell Eiffel _did_.”

 

“ _Or_ you could jam the frequency, and _we_ could leave,” Daniel suggested.

 

Alana sighed. “As great as that may sound, I’m at _least_ bringing Hera and Lovelace, and neither of them are going to let us leave without Minkowski and Eiffel. So, go get Lovelace.”

 

“You better not die, Alana,” Daniel said, forceful.

 

“Colonel Kepler’s not outliving me, Daniel. We’ve talked about this. I’m going to be fine,” she assured him. “Now, go before it’s too late.”

 

He nodded, then turned and left. Alana found the panel she was looking for, the one that controlled the comms systems in the ship, after only a few seconds--in her time before the coup, she’d gotten well acquainted with this part of the ship. She made herself at home, and altered its processors as best as she could from there, enough that the comms system would play the correct frequency as soon as someone activated it.

 

She crossed the room and pressed the button to access the comms. She didn’t say a word, barely even breathed, but just pushing the button was enough. It wasn’t an audible frequency, so nobody would even know what was happening until their dummies were on the ground, already dead.

 

Alana kept her thumb on the button a few seconds, just to be sure. Once she knew the frequency had done its job, she went back into the vent with the wrench Daniel had been using. Just in case.

 

She still had to go find Lovelace’s idiot Communications Officer, after all.

 

She found him chasing after Minkowski, who was moving with purpose down the hallway, in the direction of the duct Alana was currently in.

 

“Minkowski! Minkowski, wait! Goddammit, Pryce!” he shouted.

 

So then Pryce could directly control Minkowski’s body. Wonderful.

 

Maybe this _was_ the time to take a risk. Just a small one. If she didn't, the whole plan might fall through.

 

Alana cracked open the vent a few inches, not enough for Pryce to notice unless she looked directly at it. She waited until Pryce had piloted Minkowski _almost_ directly under the vent, and she threw the wrench in the direction of Minkowski’s head, hoping the amount of force she threw it with would make up for the lack of gravity.

 

Minkowski stopped pushing herself forward then, clearly unconscious.

 

Alana half-wondered if she’d really just killed Minkowski in front of Eiffel. But no, Minkowski was definitely breathing.

 

Alana cleared her throat, which did a good enough job of getting Eiffel out of the frozen state he’d been in. “Bring her to Hilbert’s lab,” Alana whispered. “I’ll meet you there.”

 

He nodded and grabbed Minkowski’s arms, and Alana kept going.

 

She made it there before Eiffel, and honestly, she didn’t even have all that much faith Eiffel would actually make it to the lab without getting caught.

 

Alana needed her notes though, and Minkowski needed to stay out of sight until she woke up.

 

She lowered herself out of the vent and went quickly towards the set of drawers she’d stored her notes in. She grabbed them, stacked them neatly, then slid the folder down the front of her clothes. She needed a more convenient way to carry them if she wanted to bring them with her, and her clothes were loose enough to hide them, which would save time that the others would have spent asking stupid questions about them.

 

She hid behind one of the storage units in the lab once she was done, waiting. The hatch opened not long after, and Eiffel came through, still dragging Minkowski along.

 

He kicked it closed behind him and looked around the room. “Maxwell?”

 

She moved out into the open, eyes on Minkowski. “She hasn’t woken up?”

 

Eiffel shook his head. “She started to make some noise a minute ago, so I think she’s going to soon.” He looked more than a little nervous at the idea.

 

Alana pushed herself over to them, and looked Minkowski over more closely. She looked like shit. Alana felt a bit of satisfaction at that.

 

“Tie her up,” Alana said to Eiffel. “I need to make sure she can’t see me in case Pryce still has control of her.”

 

She hid down behind the nearest cabinet and waited.

 

She heard shouting in the halls. They were looking for Eiffel and Minkowski.

 

She braced, and the hatch opened. Colonel Kepler. Alana shot up.

 

“I’ve got this hallway!” he shouted, then closed the hatch behind him. “What the _hell_ are you doing in here?”

 

“Well, Colonel, we’re waiting for Minkowski to wake up so we can--” Minkowski groaned, turning her head to the side. “Would you look at that? Looks like she's almost ready to join in on the fun. Now Colonel, I’m sure we would all _really_ appreciate it if you stayed in here searching for us until we leave the room, wouldn’t we?”

 

“Um, yes?” Eiffel was looking back and forth between Alana and Colonel Kepler. “He _knows you’re alive_?”

 

Alana sighed. “Yes, he found me and Jacobi in maintenance room twelve earlier.” She looked at Colonel Kepler. “If you want to come with us, you need to give me all your weapons and communications devices. You haven’t told them about this _yet_ , but I can’t put too much faith into that until the Hephaestus turns into fireworks for the aliens. You understand, right?”

 

Colonel Kepler looked at the hatch, then looked at Alana again. “And how do I know you won’t just use me as a hostage to get yourself out?”

 

Alana scoffed. “Trust me, Colonel. If I was looking for a hostage, it wouldn’t be you. I’m offering you a chance out because I want your bosses dead more than I want you dead.”

 

“Maxwell, I’m not sure Commander Minkowski would--”

 

“Well, Eiffel, she’s still asleep. So I’m doing whatever the hell I think is best. Plus, I’m the only one who has these ducts damn near memorized, so you’re gonna have to get used to following me until we’re off this ship.”

 

“But--”

 

“Minkowski hasn’t given an order not to, and even if she had, I’m not on her crew. Unless Colonel Kepler does something stupid right now, he’s coming.”

 

He gritted his teeth, then began pulling out his weapons. Two guns, a taser, and some extra ammunition for the guns. She took one of the guns, and handed Eiffel the other.

 

“The hand too. You’re not wearing _Pryce’s_ biotech that she’s probably tracking. No stupid risks.”

 

He looked at the gun in her hand and pulled the mechanical hand off just as Minkowski finally sat up.

 

“Lieutenant, so glad you could join us. Let’s _go_ , before they realize how long Colonel Kepler is taking,” Alana said, already heading towards the vent.

 

“What the hell is going on?” Minkowski asked, looking at everyone, brow furrowed.

 

“Lovelace trusted me to help make sure everything went according to plan, so that’s what I’m doing. Eiffel injected Lovelace’s blood into you to wake you up because alien DNA isn’t compatible with Pryce’s biotech. Jacobi and Lovelace were _going_ to wait for us on the Sol, but now that all of this is happening, they’re probably in maintenance room twelve on the aft deck because it was the place we originally planned to meet. Colonel Kepler is coming because he could be useful, and he’s kept the fact that I’m alive secret from Cutter long enough that I know he won’t betray us, especially now that Eiffel and I have guns,” Alana explained. “So, let’s _go_ before Riemann gets in here and kills us all.”

 

Minkowski looked dazed as she followed, like she was still processing everything that had happened to her in the past two weeks. That was fair, and it certainly helped Alana stay in control at least until they were already in the vents and couldn’t speak.

 

Alana led the way, and sure enough, Daniel and Lovelace were in the maintenance room. She lowered herself into the room, followed by the other three, and Alana was unsurprised to see that Eiffel had given his gun to Minkowski. The gun that Minkowski now had firmly pointed at Alana. Alana did her best not to look too concerned, because even if Minkowski wasn’t a killer, she did have a history of being willing to shoot Alana.

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “Really, Minkowski? I’ve been helping plan _your_ escape for weeks now, and you’re going to thank me by pointing a gun at my head again?”

 

“Forgive me if I don’t trust you after you just invited Kepler to come with us,” Minkowski practically spat at her, leaving the gun firmly at Alana’s head.

 

“Maxwell, you did what?” Lovelace asked, glaring at Colonel Kepler. Angry really _was_ a good look on her.

 

“He’s walked in on us working on the plan multiple times, and hasn’t said a word to Pryce or Cutter about it. It’s safe to assume he isn’t going to betray us. _Plus_ , he knows way too much now, so if he suddenly decides that me and Jacobi aren’t worth the risk of lying to Pryce and Cutter, it would be better for all of us if we could neutralize that threat quickly and easily. Wouldn’t you agree?” Alana explained, looking at Lovelace. “I think Minkowski just doesn’t like that _I_ gave the order to bring him. I don’t think she likes me very much.”

 

She saw Daniel almost smile at the last part, and she thought it would’ve been worth it if Minkowski decided to shoot her for it.

 

“Why didn’t you think to _talk to me_ about this stupid decision before you made it?” Lovelace asked, that same glare directed right at Alana now. Maybe Alana didn’t love the angry look so much when it was directed at _her_ , especially not when she could see there was worry there too. Lovelace didn’t need to be worried, Alana was perfectly alright, and not at all reeling from going from seeing the same face for months to having five people all _looking at her_ at the same time.

 

Alana was careful to keep her face decidedly neutral. “Quite honestly, Captain, it was an impulse decision, and then Eiffel told me I shouldn’t, and even if I was still your prisoner, I would never stoop low enough to take an order from Officer Eiffel. No offense, Eiffel,” she said, looking at Eiffel, who _did_ look offended. “Anyways, Colonel Kepler is here now, so he either has to come with us or you need to shoot him Captain, because Minkowski wouldn’t even do it to spite _me_. Oh, and while you’re thinking about that, would you mind telling Minkowski to point her gun somewhere else?”

 

Lovelace rolled her eyes. “Commander Minkowski, Maxwell isn’t a threat. You don’t need to have your gun on her.”

 

“She brought Kepler with us, she doesn’t listen to orders, she has a gun, and she has every reason to want me dead,” Minkowski said, _not_ moving her gun. “I don’t exactly trust that she’s on our side.”

 

“I’ve had hundreds of chances to kill you in the past few weeks, and you’re still alive. Hell, I could’ve let Pryce kill you when she was piloting your body, and I wouldn’t have had to lift a finger. You know what I did, though? I saved your ass _and_ Eiffel’s. If I was planning on killing you, you’d be dead,” Alana said, trying her _very_ hardest not to sound as annoyed as she was. “And let me make this clear: I’m not on _your_ side, Minkowski. I’m on the side that will get me and the people I give a damn about back to Earth. I’m willing to work with you because it’s convenient, and I can promise I won’t kill you. I am not on your side though.”

 

Minkowski gritted her teeth, then turned her gun on Colonel Kepler. Alana tried not to make it too obvious when the tension drained from her body.

 

Colonel Kepler looked smug, even now. Alana almost wished she didn’t bring him, just to wipe that fucking look off of his face. “I think you’ll find I’m a valuable asset to have, Commander Minkowski.” Kiss ass.

 

“And why the hell is that?” Minkowski asked. Her hands weren’t shaking. Alana wondered if maybe she did have it in her now, after all this. Maybe she would kill him. Maybe.

 

Alana looked her over. She might not put it past her anymore, at least.

 

“Well, after this little jailbreak, I can guarantee they’ve locked down the Sol. Unless one of you happens to have been granted the access necessary to get through that lock, you need me to get on that ship.”

 

Minkowski scoffed. “You really think that you still have security clearance after this? They know you’re with us, Kepler. You don’t have anything.”

 

“It takes _time_ to change those things Commander. If we hurry, we can get there before they finish. We don’t have forever though, so unless you have a better idea than using me, we need to go,” Colonel Kepler said, and his voice never once shook. Alana had always respected that about him.

 

“Commander, I don’t think--” Eiffel started, as if his input would be relevant now.

 

“If you make a sound, or if you try anything once we’re on the Sol, I will kill you. I’ve kept you alive this long, but if you put my crew in danger today, you’re a dead man,” Minkowski said, voice dangerously level.

 

Alana raised her eyebrows. Minkowski had definitely gotten better at this.

 

“Well, now that that’s settled,” Alana said, grinning, “I think we should--”

 

“You need to hurry, guys.” Hera. She sounded worried. That probably wasn’t good. “They were talking, and Rachel’s trying to find the bomb, and Riemann’s guarding the Sol’s entrance. Dr. Pryce and Mr. Cutter are arguing over whether they should revoke Colonel Kepler’s security clearance or just kill him the next time they see him.”

 

“And how do they know about the bomb, Hera?” Daniel asked, crossing his arms.

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “Not her fault, Daniel. Pryce still has her on a leash. Plus, she didn’t tell them where it was, and thank you for that, Hera. We’ve got time before they find it.”

 

“I just told her that my sensors had already gone offline when he built it. And that is true, so I didn’t _see_ where it is,” Hera explained.

 

Alana grinned. “See? I _knew_ you’d find a loophole. The bomb’s safe then. What we _actually_ need to worry about right now is the fact that they might be working on taking Colonel Kepler’s security clearance. If we want to get on the Sol at all, we need to hurry before they stop arguing over the best way to kill him.”

 

“She’s right, Commander,” Lovelace said. “We’re running out of time.”

 

Minkowski nodded. “Let’s go then. Thank you, Hera.”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

“I’m going first,” Alana said. “I know the quickest routes through the ducts better than anyone else here.”

 

Minkowski started to object, but Alana had already begun pulling herself back up into the vent. “If you want to get off of this ship, you’re going to have to shut up and follow me for a little bit longer, Minkowski.”

 

And she did, as did everyone else. Alana knew that she maybe could’ve been a bit more civil, but they didn’t have time for that. She’d get an earful from Minkowski later, and probably Lovelace too, but she’d be off the Hephaestus and alive enough to get lectured, so. Win some, lose some.

 

They made it to the vent nearest to the Sol, and sure enough, Alana could see Riemann. He had a rather large gun in his hand, and he was watching the hallway with clear focus.

 

Alana turned around, looked at Colonel Kepler. “How much noise will this gun make if I shoot him?” she whispered.

 

He blew out a breath. “Too much.”

 

“Thought so.”

 

“What if I distract him?” Colonel Kepler asked, looking around Alana’s shoulder at him.

 

“How?”

 

“Go down the hall, climb out, walk up, tell him you’re going to the armory. Even if he’s not stupid enough to believe it and go looking, it’ll give you time to neutralize the threat.”

 

Alana looked at the rest of the group, kept her eyes on Lovelace to ground her as she spoke. “It’s our best bet. Minkowski, you going to let him?”

 

Minkowski’s face flickered for a second, like she couldn’t believe Alana was actually asking permission, no matter how insincere the question might be. Alana thought that Minkowski needed a better poker face, frankly. It distracted her enough to stop her from making Alana hand over her gun, at least. “Fine.”

 

Colonel Kepler nodded at her as he pulled his way forwards, past everyone, and they watched him go. Once he’d turned a corner and was out of sight, Alana looked back to the hallway, to Riemann, and waited. Even if Alana had suggested he go, entrusting Colonel Kepler to help save everyone’s asses when he could just as easily give them up to save his own was a nerve wracking experience. She couldn’t let the others know she was nervous though, it would be counterproductive. She squared her shoulders, stared down the hallway, and waited.

 

Sure enough, a minute or so later Colonel Kepler came down the hallway, faking a shoulder injury. Alana shook her head. The man loved his theatrics, but at least he was halfway decent at it. Riemann wouldn’t see through that, at least.

 

Riemann had the gun pointed at Colonel Kepler as soon as he noticed him. “Colonel, fancy seeing you here. Where’s your friends?”

 

“Mr. Riemann, just the man I was looking for! They knocked me out and took me with them to use my clearance to get on the Sol. As you can see, I snuck out of the ducts before they noticed. Considering I’m not at my best right now,” he said, gesturing to the missing hand and wincing as he did so, trying to draw attention to his shoulder at the same time, “I thought you could be more useful than me. They were talking about their plan, and they mentioned going to the armory through the ducts to stock up on weapons. I guess they figured out you were going to disable their bomb, so they decided to just try and kill all of you before they leave.”

 

Alana would have believed that if she didn’t know him as well as she did. Maybe this could work.

 

“Is that so?” Riemann asked. “And why take you instead of one of us?”

 

“I’m the man that Dr. Pryce and Mr. Cutter would be the least disappointed to lose. They thought it would be easier if they took someone they thought would be unimportant,” Colonel Kepler said, voice growing tight in that way it did when he was irritated. “Now, if you don’t want them to gain access to the rest of the weapons on this ship by the next time you see them, I would suggest getting there before them.”

 

Riemann looked him over. “If you aren’t planning to get them on the Sol, I’m sure you won’t mind me taking you to explain the situation to Mr. Cutter while I go to the armory.”

 

“Of course I don’t mind, Mr. Riemann. Anything to help find them.”

 

Riemann kept the gun pointed at Colonel Kepler as they went, and when Colonel Kepler started to talk incessantly, just loud enough to give her cover, Alana quietly popped open the grate and pulled herself out into the hallway. She silently thanked her SI-5 training for teaching her how to follow someone almost impossibly quietly, and when she was close enough to reach the two of them, she hit Riemann over the head with her gun as Colonel Kepler wrenched Riemann’s out of his hands to keep him from shooting. She hit him hard enough to disorient him, then hit him two more times before he could turn around and watched him go limp, bleeding from his head.

 

She wondered if she killed him. If she did, he deserved it, and even if she hadn’t, Daniel’s bomb would if they hurried.

 

She looked away from him, at Colonel Kepler. “Give me the gun.”

 

He gritted his teeth, but handed it over. “What reason have I given _you_ not to trust me? Jacobi, I can understand. But I have done nothing to you.”

 

“You _were_ willing to let Minkowski kill me, Colonel,” Alana reminded him. “Let me tell you, that can hurt a girl’s feelings.”

 

“You used to be willing to die, or or at least let other people die, for the mission, may I remind you,” Colonel Kepler said. “In fact, you’re about to kill several people for your own gain.”

 

“I don’t let my team die, Colonel. That’s the difference. I’m saving your miserable ass because you’re a member of my team, even if I can barely stand you. I had done _nothing_ but be loyal, and you were willing to let me die after six years of working together. You’ve _actually_ fucked me and Jacobi over, and I’m still not letting you die, because being part of the same unit for so long actually means something to me, Colonel.”

 

And for once in his life, Colonel Kepler didn’t have a response.

 

Alana clenched her jaw, then went back the way she came down the hallway. She looked up into the vent, and judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they had all heard.

 

“Coast is clear. You guys can come out.” She turned to look at Colonel Kepler. “Are you going to get us on the Sol or not?”

 

Without a word, he traveled down the hallway and placed his hand on a scanner next to the door. It beeped once, and the hatch swung open. Alana went through first while the others were still exiting the vent. Lovelace was the first one out, and then she was right next to Alana even though there was plenty of space. Alana reached over the few inches between them and squeezed her hand quickly, before anyone else could see them, except maybe Colonel Kepler, but he wouldn’t say anything if he did, not now.

 

Once everyone was in, she looked around the group expectantly. “Well? Who’s going to show me where I can go to give us control of the ship?”

 

Daniel raised a hand. “I can--”

 

Minkowski shook her head. “No, I’ll go. I’m Commanding Officer _and_ the one in charge of navigation, which means that when you do it, I need to be there to ensure that the ship’s controls that don’t go to Hera go to me. Kepler, you come too. You’re the only one whose eye will register on the scanner right now.”

 

Alana sighed. “Yeah, fine. We need to go _now_ though, we don’t exactly have much time.”

 

Minkowski looked at the group. “The rest of you, stay together and hide. You can’t get caught now.”

 

“Yes sir,” Eiffel and Lovelace chorused. Daniel said nothing, but he didn't stop them.

 

Minkowski started to move without another word, knowing Alana and Colonel Kepler would follow. It was only a few minutes before they were there, and Alana felt at home right away, surrounded by the hum of the computers and machinery lining the walls. She felt a smile creeping onto her face as she made herself comfortable and began to work.

 

“You need me to narrate this for you or do you trust me to do my job?” Alana asked, eyes glued to the screen in front of her.

 

She heard Minkowski sigh. “Just get it done, Maxwell.”

 

Colonel Kepler said nothing. It would be nice that he’d finally learned how to shut up if it wasn’t so damn unsettling. That wasn’t what she needed to think about now, though.

 

She let herself get lost in it then, and _God_ , it felt good. It felt right. She was doing what she was meant to do again for the first time in months. She figured security was their first concern, so she erased Colonel Kepler, Cutter, Pryce, Rachel, and Riemann from the Sol’s memory. They couldn’t have access to the ship if the ship didn’t register their identities.

 

“Colonel, Minkowski, you can stop being so tense now,” Alana muttered, still typing. “I can feel it coming off of you, it’s stressing me out. They can’t get on the ship anymore unless they blow up the doors.”

 

“Oh. Good. Okay,” Minkowski said, blowing out a breath. Alana wondered if Minkowski had breathed at all since they’d been on the Sol.

 

“Good work, Dr. Maxwell,” Colonel Kepler said, almost sounding hesitant, and that was maybe the most bizarre thing that she’d seen in all this mess, which was _saying_ something considering that Alana had somewhat recently learned that not only were aliens real, but the woman she maybe felt _something_ for was one.

 

Again, that was _not_ what Alana needed to think about, not while she was working on something this important.

 

And she did think Minkowski maybe relaxed a bit after that, which helped. She was just generally so tense that it was hard to really tell though. Alana shrugged it off, trying to ignore her presence, and got back to work.

 

Once the ship was secure, she got to work on Hera. That took priority. It wouldn't matter if she gave Minkowski control of the ship if they couldn't leave yet, and they definitely couldn’t leave without Hera.

 

Since the ships’ systems were connected, at least enough to allow Pryce to have taken control so effectively without ever touching the Hephaestus’ processing units, finding Hera wasn’t all that hard, especially considering how familiar Alana had gotten with her code.

 

Transferring her consciousness, though? That took time. Not long enough to worry Alana any more than she already had been, but transferring the consciousness of a mother program as sophisticated as Hera wasn’t an easy task. She did it though, of course she did, and while she was waiting for the transfer to complete and Hera to wake up on the Sol, she turned her attention to another screen to further update the security.

 

It was easy to find what she needed, honestly. Of course it was sophisticated programming and of course what she was looking for--just the security _inside_ the ship, because she still very much wanted the airlocks completely locked down just in case Cutter and Pryce got creative--was hidden amongst thousands of lines of code, but she was Alana Maxwell. She was a genius. This was as easy as breathing, and it only took minutes.

 

Then to hand control of the ship over. Locking everyone _out_ of the ship's controls had been simple enough, so now there was just the matter of allowing Minkowski to override that and control the functions that, currently, were entirely on autopilot.

 

Maybe, just maybe, she manually input the necessary coding to give _herself_ full access to those same functions first, but Minkowski didn’t need to know that. It was insurance, that was all. In case they tried holding her hostage again, or there was an emergency, or Minkowski told her not to do something she wanted to, or told her _do_ something she didn't feel like doing. A few more seconds, another line of code, and--

 

“Identity confirmed. Alana Maxwell,” said a robotic voice. Shit. “System access granted.”

 

Alana cleared her throat, and pointedly did not look at Minkowski. “Add administrative access. Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski, full access.” Then she had to look at Minkowski, and she pretended she didn’t notice that Minkowski was trying to glare a hole through her. “Look, I needed to give myself the authority to give you control. You’ll have command of the ship, I’m literally giving it to you right now. I just need your command authentication code.”

 

Minkowski sighed, and definitely didn’t look like she completely bought Alana’s story, but it worked well enough that Minkowski hadn’t pulled out her gun. “Victor Uniform Lima Charlie Alpha November.”

 

The computer chirped. “Approved. Access granted.”

 

“That’s--is that it?” Minkowski asked, eyes wide.

 

“Yeah, that’s it. Hera’s still transferring, but she should be all here any minute now,” Alana said, nodding, trying not to look quite as astonished as she felt that they’d actually managed it. “As soon as all her files have transferred, we can go.”

 

Minkowski laughed, shaking her head. “We’re actually going home.”

 

Alana nodded again. “I bet you’re feeling pretty damn glad you didn’t kill me now.”

 

“You know what? I think I might be,” Minkowski said, sounding about as shocked as Alana felt by it. “Yeah, I’m glad you’re not dead, Maxwell.”

 

Alana scoffed. “Oh, glad to hear it.”

 

“We, uh--wow, we should tell everyone.”

 

Alana rolled her eyes. She crossed the room, towards Minkowski and Colonel Kepler, and pressed a button on the wall to access the comms. “The Sol is secure, and Minkowski has access to all systems. Hera’s files are almost finished transferring over here, and then we’re home free.” She looked at Minkowski. “Anything you want to add?”

 

Minkowski leaned in, still looking a bit dazed. “Everyone, meet on the observation deck so we can decide what to do next. We’re really going home guys.”

 

Alana decided this wasn’t the time to mock her for sounding so emotional. Minkowski and her crew had been gone a _long_ time. It probably felt unreal after wanting it for so long.

 

As the three of them left the room, they heard a crackle.

 

“You actually did it.” Hera sounded so _excited_. Alana had to force herself not to smile too much at that. It had been too long since Hera’s excitement had been directed at her in any way. “Oh my _God_ , you actually did it!”

 

Minkowski laughed. “Yeah, Maxwell--she got you over here. We’re going home, Hera.”

 

“That’s great, Commander,” Hera said, and she genuinely sounded happy. “And thank you, Maxwell.”

 

“Anytime, Hera.”

 

“I’m going to go to the bridge, set our course for Earth. Maxwell, you take Kepler and meet the others on the observation deck, tell them I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Minkowski said, and Alana was pretty sure it was the first command she’d been given by Minkowski that didn’t sound snide.

 

Alana raised an eyebrow. “You’re trusting me, alone with Colonel Kepler?” she asked, as if Minkowski hadn’t gotten a front row seat to months of Alana’s growing resentment towards Colonel Kepler finally spilling out.

 

Minkowski didn’t mention that though. Alana was almost grateful. “I think you’ve got it covered,” she said instead, looking at the gun that Alana had tucked into her waistband to free her hands while she was working.

 

It did take Alana by surprise a bit. It only took a moment or two after that to make up her mind on what to do about Minkowski. If Minkowski was willing to give this to Alana, to at least pretend to trust her, and trust her enough to allow her to be armed _and_ to be alone with Colonel Kepler, then Alana could try to ignore the resentment she felt towards Minkowski, at least for now.

 

“See you in a bit then, Commander,” Alana said, nodding her head at Minkowski.

 

Minkowski smiled at Alana, and Alana could tell it hadn’t quite sunk in that she’d just called Minkowski her Commander for the first time. Alana thought the smile might even look genuine, if a bit surprised. Maybe the door to civility wasn’t completely closed when it came to her and Minkowski after all this.

 

She looked at Colonel Kepler, and she didn’t recognize the look on his face. His brow was furrowed, but he didn’t quite look angry. It was an out of place expression on him, that much was clear. “Let’s go. They’re probably waiting for us.”

 

He nodded. Alana let him go a few feet in front of her since she didn’t yet know the Sol, and at first, neither of them spoke. Once Minkowski was well out of earshot though, Colonel Kepler cleared his throat, looking back at Alana.

 

“I _am_ glad to have you back, Dr. Maxwell,” he said.

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “I sure hope you’re not expecting this to make things go back to normal. From what I’ve heard, Daniel can’t stand you, and I mean even more than I can’t stand you right now. Things aren’t going to go back to how they used to be with the three of us just because I didn’t let you die, Colonel.”

 

“And yet you’re still calling me Colonel.” He really couldn’t help but to be so goddamn arrogant, could he?

 

“Using your name is too personal, and you don’t deserve any sort of _personal_ attachment to me. You’re nothing but another person on this ship who’s trying to get home. You’re--well, you aren’t much of anything to me anymore. You’re not my boss, and you’re certainly not my friend.” Alana really hadn’t intended to say _all_ of that, but she couldn’t find it in herself to regret it. Colonel Kepler deserved to be taken down a few pegs.

 

“Well then, I’m glad we got that out of the way so early,” he said, and then nothing else. Maybe it worked.

 

When they reached the observation deck, Alana saw Lovelace, Eiffel, and Daniel near the entrance, talking to each other and looking anxious and like they didn’t quite believe what was happening.

 

“Minkowski is plotting our course right now. Hera’s here, the ship is secure, and we can leave,” Alana explained as she entered, and everyone jumped to look at her.

 

Daniel was the first to react. He moved forward and hugged her tightly, then pulled back and looked her over. “God, Maxwell. You actually did it.”

 

Alana laughed. “Don’t sound so surprised.”

 

Eiffel looked dazed. “We--we’re actually going home,” he said, shaking his head.

 

Right. He’d left a hell of a lot behind, and a hell of a mess to clean up.

 

“Yeah, Eiffel,” she said. “We’re going home, and you’ll be a free man when you get back.”

 

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess I will be.”

 

Lovelace looked like she hadn’t even totally processed it yet. Alana didn’t blame her, Lovelace had been waiting _years_ to go back.

 

“Hey, Hera?” Lovelace called.

 

“Uh, yes Captain?” Hera responded.

 

“You’ve been awfully quiet, what’s up? Nothing’s wrong, right?” she asked. It was a fair question, especially considering how horribly wrong things had gone every other time Lovelace tried to get back home.

 

“Everything--everything’s great, Captain,” Hera said, slowly. “The Sol--it’s got so much more processing power than the Hephaestus or the Urania, it’s insane. There are sensors I didn’t even know _existed_ on here. I’m just--it’s a lot to take in.”

 

“You’re not too overwhelmed, right?” Alana asked, concerned.

 

“Oh, no! Not at all. It feels great, Maxwell. I’m just getting used to it,” Hera assured her.

 

Alana nodded. “That’s good, I’m glad.”

 

Daniel made a noise, and Alana thought it looked like he’d been hit in the face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was just slightly open. “Hera? Did they find the bomb?”

 

Right. That. Maybe not so home free if Cutter and Pryce were going to survive them leaving.

 

Hera _laughed._ “Yeah, actually. Explosives are Riemann’s department though, and he still hasn’t woken up. Dr. Pryce never bothered with traditional bombs since her explosives are so much more efficient, so she can’t actually disarm it. She’s trying, but she’s barely touched it so far, just in case.”

 

They’d actually done it then. Unless Riemann woke up and disarmed it before they left--unlikely, but not impossible--then they’d actually done it.

 

“Well, tell Commander Minkowski to hurry then,” Lovelace said, smile on her face. “It would just be embarrassing if we fucked it up when we’re this close.” Alana felt winded. Happy was a _really_ good look on Lovelace, much more than angry.

 

“On it, sir.”

 

Lovelace _looked_ at Alana then, and Alana smiled back at her. She looked like she might actually believe they’d succeeded now. “Remind me to never doubt your coding again,” she said, half-joking.

 

Daniel groaned. “Don’t stroke her ego, Captain, she’s never going to let us live this down.”

 

“I think Dr. Maxwell earned a bit of bragging rights,” Colonel Kepler interjected, and Alana tried not to let it sour her mood.

 

Lovelace looked at him, eyebrows raised. “For once, I agree with Kepler.”

 

“Give it a week, you’ll change your mind,” Daniel assured her.

 

“He’s right,” Alana said. “None of you can ever turn down a favor for me again, Captain.”

 

Lovelace hummed. “Saving our lives for unlimited favors. I think I can live with that.”

 

Daniel looked between the two of them, and Alana knew she’d be hearing all about it later.

 

For now though, all they needed to think about was that the ship had just started to lurch away from the Hephaestus. Everyone froze.

 

“Do you guys feel that?” Eiffel asked, eyes wide.

 

“I--yeah, Eiffel,” Lovelace said, smile replaced with a look of complete surprise.

 

Then they all rushed to the window. Sure enough, they were definitely moving. Alana could see the Sol beginning to detach itself from the Hephaestus, to move in the opposite direction. She felt the remaining tension melt away from her, and she was _weightless_ with relief. They’d actually done it.

 

Minkowski came rushing into the room, joining them to watch.

 

“We did it,” Minkowski said, smile blinding as she watched them move.

 

“Now all that’s left to do is enjoy the fireworks,” Daniel said, throwing an arm over Alana’s shoulder and leaning into her. The contact was something they both needed, that reassurance that they were actually _here_ together after so long.

 

From her other side, she felt Lovelace’s fingers brush against her own, and she smiled, briefly intertwining their pinkies.

 

The fireworks show was _spectacular_ , and Alana could tell that even Eiffel was glad to see the Hephaestus go up in flames.

 

When everything was done, and they’d had time to process it, Minkowski cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “We’ll come up with a real plan for what to do until we get back tomorrow. I think that we’ve earned a good night’s rest first. Oh, and first thing tomorrow, Kepler is going to tell us _exactly_ what the hell Cutter and Pryce were planning.”

 

“Of course, Commander. I'd be happy to,” Colonel Kepler said, nodding. Alana almost laughed. He really did think they might still kill him, or else he wouldn’t still be acting so polite.

 

“And what are we going to do about him for _tonight_?” Lovelace asked, looking at him with obvious distaste. Understandable.

 

“You and I can go make sure all the weapons are locked away where he can't get to them. He doesn't have any security clearance anymore, he won't be able to get anywhere with a locked door. I think we're done with keeping prisoners though, unless he does something _really_ stupid.”

 

And then the last bit of worry Alana had about all this disappeared. She knew it wasn't _likely_ that Minkowski would take her prisoner again, but she also knew she'd be stupid not to consider it. She was safe though. She was free.

 

“I think that's a great idea,” Lovelace said, too quickly. “Do you want to go ahead and do that?”

 

Minkowski nodded. “Yes, we should get that out of the way.” They were planning something. Alana wondered what they’d talk about. “You all can pick which rooms you want to sleep in. All of you, make sure you get some rest tonight. We all need it. And if any of you need to talk to me,” she said, seeming to look right at Eiffel as she did, “Hera can tell you where I am.”

 

Before she left, Lovelace hooked her pinkie around Alana's, and gave her a small smile when she left. Maybe Alana was going to have to confront what Lovelace made her feel sooner than she thought.

 

As soon as they were gone, Daniel grabbed her hand and started moving. “We're going to go somewhere alone, and you're going to tell me everything that happened to you while you were gone.”

 

She laughed. “Sounds like a great way to spend my first real night back. Let me pick my room first though, then we can go to yours.”

 

He agreed, and they wandered the halls, looking into rooms until they each found sleeping quarters they liked. Alana entered her new room and pulled the stack of notepads out from her clothes. She really was just grateful that the material was thick enough that it hadn’t been noticed by the others.

 

Daniel started to come in behind her, but she stopped him at the entrance. “I’ll be right there, I promise. I just need to talk to Hera about something first, and I don’t want anyone to hear about it until I’ve cleared it with her. Is that alright?”

 

“I, uh--yeah, that’s totally fine. I’ll wait in my room,” he said, nodding.

 

“Thank you, Daniel. This shouldn’t take too long.”

 

She closed the hatch and found the particular notepad she needed, rifling through it until she found the pages she’d been looking for.

 

“Hera? I was being honest with Jacobi there, I do need to talk to you about something,” Alana called.

 

“What do you need?” Hera asked. She sounded more like herself now, less overwhelmed.

 

“So, back on the Hephaestus, you know I spent a lot of time writing things, coming up with ideas for things to build, that kind of stuff,” she started, skimming over the paper again to make sure she hadn’t made any miscalculations.

 

“Yes, I do remember that.”

 

“Well, I also spent a lot of time thinking about what I’d do if I ever got back to Earth, so a lot of them have to do with that,” she said, looking up from the paper. “And some of them had to do with you.”

 

“Where is this going?” Hera asked, cautious.

 

“I--well, I know you worry about what’s going to happen to you once we’re off the Sol,” Alana said carefully.

 

“I d--”

 

“I know you never told me that. Any person in your situation would be worried about it though. I’d be more surprised if you _weren’t_ worrying about it.” Alana took a deep breath. “I think I figured out a way to fix that problem.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Hera asked slowly.

 

“I think--it’s possible--I’m pretty sure I figured out a way to build you a body. Well, not a _human_ body--actually, maybe something that looks like a human body? I didn’t know I’d have access to all of Pryce’s biotech when I started planning this. Anyways, point is I found a way we could transfer your consciousness into something we could actually take off of the ship. We wouldn’t have to leave you behind.”

 

Hera didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “And this is something that’s actually plausible?” she finally asked.

 

“It’s not just _plausible_ , it’s actually doable. If I start working now, I could have it built before we get to Earth, and I could transfer you over to it a few days before we land. The Sol’s autopilot is advanced enough to land us safely, it’s what got Cutter and Pryce all the way out here from Earth,” Alana explained.

 

“How would it work?” Hera still didn’t sound sure. It made sense, Alana would think it sounded crazy too if she hadn’t gone over the calculations and the science and the _everything_ of it as many times as she had.

 

“Well, your personality took a lot of extremely intricate programming to make possible, of course, but it’s something that could potentially be transferred into a smaller vessel. If I could limit most of your senses until they’re still much more _efficient_ than a human’s, but less comprehensive, then I could make you take up a small enough amount of memory to transfer you into something like a human-looking body.”

 

“How limited are we talking?”

 

“Well, you’d still be able to see and hear and feel, but only at a slightly larger range than the rest of us. Your brain would still work just as quickly, but on a smaller scale. You wouldn’t have all of the abilities you have now to regulate temperature or oxygen or light or anything like that, because once we’re back on Earth, you won’t need any of it. Your personality and the things that make you _you_ will all be there, you’d just have to experience things in a way more like the rest of us,” Alana explained.

 

“Yes,” Hera said, voice unsteady. “Yes, you--I’m completely okay with that. It’ll take a while to get used to, obviously, but it would be one-hundred percent worth it to get to stay with all of you. You really think it could work?”

 

“It _will_ work if that’s what you want. You’re sure that it is?”

 

“Of course I am,” Hera assured her. “I am completely on board with it. I can learn how to live with lowered senses.”

 

“Well, I’ll tell Minkowski about it in the morning then to make sure she gives me plenty of time to work on it.”

 

“Thank you, Maxwell. _Really_ , thank you. I--can I tell Eiffel about it? He just asked what I sound so excited about.”

 

“Yeah, of course. I think that’s all I needed, if you want to be able to focus more on your conversation with him,” Alana offered.

 

“Oh, okay. Sure,” Hera said. “Maxwell?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m glad you're here. Not--not just because of this. I'm just...glad you're here.”

 

Alana smiled. “Thanks, Hera.”

 

That was...it felt nice. It felt like maybe she and Hera were okay again. She was still half-smiling when she made it to Daniel's room. He was sitting in his bunk, partly zipped in to stay in it, head leaned back against the wall. She in his direction, laughing when his eyes flew open, startled.

 

He wiped the look off his face after barely a second, and rolled his eyes at her. “What did you and Hera talk about?” he asked.

 

She squeezed in next to him, leaning into his side. “Something I started thinking about a few months back. I'm pretty sure I can build her a processing unit small enough to take with us, and with all of Pryce's things here, I think I can make a body for her too.”

 

He hummed. “It's weird that Pryce didn't think of that.”

 

Alana scoffed. “Why would she care enough to? She didn't think her AI were people, of course she didn't think about building something for them that could give them more independence, and if she did, she'd never actually do it.”

 

“Alright, sure. That makes sense.”

 

Alana nodded, laying her head on his shoulder.

 

“And you think you can do it?” he asked, looking down at her.

 

“Definitely. I've already got most of it figured out, I just need to actually _do_ it now.”

 

“Well, if anyone can do it, you can.”

 

“Damn right,” Alana agreed, grinning.

 

“So,” Daniel said, pulling back enough to turn towards her.

 

“Yes?”

 

“What’s up with you and Lovelace?” It was entirely deadpan, because he was Daniel Jacobi, and if she didn’t know him as well as she did, she would’ve thought he sounded annoyed.

 

“I will get back to you on that as soon as I know,” Alana said. “I’ve been waiting until I could actually sort through all of it before I thought about any of it.”

 

Daniel rolled his eyes. “And people think _I’m_ bad at dealing with feelings.”

 

“You _are_ bad at dealing with emotions, Daniel,” Alana reminded him.

 

“Not as bad as you though. I can at least _tell_ if I think a guy is attractive.”

 

“Oh, yeah. No. Lovelace is definitely attractive. That part I’ve got all figured out. It’s just the rest of it,” Alana explained. “There’s also the matter of what to _do_ when I figure it out. I don’t know if that’s something I’d need to talk about with her, or just ignore it until it goes away, or try to ask her out. I don’t know.”

 

Daniel raised an eyebrow at her. “You can’t seriously be telling me you don’t know if you caught feelings when you’re already trying to figure out how to react to having feelings for her.”

 

Alana stopped for a second, thought about it. “I guess. Maybe there’s something there. Does it matter?”

 

Daniel shrugged. “Not if you don’t want it to, I guess.”

 

“Well, I don’t. Not right now, at least.”

 

“Fair enough,” Daniel conceded. “So where did they keep you? How the hell did we never find out?”

 

They talked for hours, talked about everything they’d missed out on since they’d been separated. It felt good. It felt _really_ good. Eventually they laid down, and Daniel fell asleep while Alana explained some of the things she was considering designing and building now that she had the chance, things that she’d thought of and written in her notes. She was far from offended that he’d fallen asleep. She knew that when she’d broken Pryce’s influence over him, he’d been on his way to get the only sleep he’d been scheduled to get that week. He was exhausted, she could see it in the way his movements had been a bit more fluid, and his words sometimes slurred a bit.

 

She was tired too, of course, but she...well, she needed some time to think. She laid there with him until she knew he was definitely asleep, then she detangled her legs from his and pulled herself out of the bed. She needed to think.

 

Alana found herself on the observation deck again, and was maybe more surprised than she should have been to find Lovelace there, back to the door and looking at the stars, unaware of Alana's presence, as if she wasn't a central focus of Alana’s thoughts on the journey there. She’d thought of Earth and of going home, of course, but she’d also thought of Lovelace and the feeling in her chest when Lovelace smiled and how she _definitely_ felt something more than attraction to her and how she couldn't even quite tell how far those feelings want and--well, maybe avoiding forming attachments to anyone outside of her unit since she'd become SI-5 hadn't been great for her emotional awareness.

 

“Hey,” Alana said, voice soft. Something felt wrong in the idea of speaking too loudly, like everything would suddenly become too much if she did. Maybe it would.

 

Lovelace turned her head to look at Alana, smiling. “Fancy seeing you here.”

 

And maybe it wasn’t _quite_ so complicated. Maybe she didn't need to think too hard about it yet. Lovelace was here, and there was _something_ there between them, and maybe that was all that mattered.

 

Alana crossed the room to join her, and only gave herself a second to think about it before she reached out and took Lovelace's hand in hers, squeezing softly. Lovelace squeezed back, and Alana let herself relax. They stayed there in silence awhile, hands intertwined, and eventually they drifted closer, pressed into each other’s sides.

 

“So, how does it feel to be going home?” Alana asked. If Alana could barely wrap her head around it, she couldn't imagine how it felt for Lovelace after _years_.

 

Lovelace sighed. “I’m not sure it’s completely sunk in yet. It’s been--God, six years? I was only actually, well, alive for about half of it, but still. It’s--it’s a long time to be away from home.”

 

Alana nodded. “What are you going to do once you’re back?”

 

Lovelace laughed. “I’d only ever gotten as far as wanting revenge. Cutter, Pryce, and Selburg are all dead now, and I’m trying the whole moving forward thing now anyways, so I have no idea,” she confessed. “Earth has probably changed so much since I’ve been gone that I won’t even know what to do anymore. Plus, everyone I ever knew thinks I’m dead, and had more than half a decade to deal with that. I’m not sure how well it would be received if I just showed up on my parents’ doorstep now. They’d probably think they’d lost it.”

 

Alana hummed. “Maybe. Or maybe they’d just be glad their daughter isn’t dead.”

 

“I mean, she kind of is, remember?” Lovelace reminded her. “She died, the aliens sent me. I’m pretty sure we’ve talked about this.”

 

Alana rolled her eyes. “So? You’ve got the same memories, the same looks, the same personality. You’re just the Captain Lovelace who can’t die.”

 

Lovelace laughed. “Call me Isabel, alright? I think we’re there,” she joked, looking down at their still-joined hands.

 

Alana pretended to think about it. “Even around everyone else?” she asked, sarcastic.

 

Isabel rolled her eyes. “Are you going to start calling Jacobi _Daniel_ in front of everyone?”

 

“I think my relationship with Daniel is a little different, _Isabel_ ,” Alana assured her. “Oh, and if we’re doing first names now, feel free to call me Alana. It’d be weird if you keep calling me Maxwell.”

 

“Care to elaborate?” Isabel asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“On why calling me Maxwell would be weird when I can call you Isabel?” she asked, as if she didn’t know exactly what Isabel meant.

 

Isabel bumped her shoulder. “You said this is different than you and Jacobi, Alana.”

 

“Right. That.” Alana stopped for a second, considering everything carefully before deciding on what she wanted to say. “Daniel is my best friend, and I love the guy a hell of a lot. He’s my _friend_. I don’t--well, I don’t know that I could describe you as someone I want to be _friends_ with.”

 

Isabel gasped, an exaggerated look of shock on her face. “You’re saying we _aren’t_ friends?”

 

Alana snorted a laugh. “You know what I’m trying to say, Isabel.” She didn't think she’d be able to elaborate more on it if she _tried_.

 

Isabel smiled, leaned over to rest her head on Alana’s shoulder. “Yeah, Alana. I know.”

 

They were silent for a long while after that. Alana tried to collect herself, to slow down her thoughts. Isabel felt that something as well, and she didn’t expect Alana to talk about it. She still felt like she should say _something_ though, something concrete. She didn’t think she’d had to figure out how to tell a woman something like that in close to ten years.

 

“Isabel?”

 

Isabel hummed.

 

“When we get back, I’ll show you all the things you’ve missed on Earth.”

 

Isabel laughed softly. “I’m pretty sure it’ll take a while to catch me up on _everything_ , Alana.”

 

“We’ve got time, Captain. I guess I’ll just have to come see you as often as it takes to get you caught up.”

 

“Seeing you all the time? I _think_ I can live with that.”

 

Isabel let go of Alana’s hand and wrapped an arm around her, and they watched the stars, pressed as close as they could get to each other, neither of them needing to say anything else. Not yet. She’d climb back into Daniel’s bed to sleep later, to be there when he woke up so he couldn’t convince himself he’d dreamed she was back for even a second, and she’d worry about the future in the morning, but for now, all Alana needed to do was stay there with Isabel.

**Author's Note:**

> if you read the whole thing you're an absolute icon! leave a comment or catch me on tumblr at fagsymbiote and adhdmagnusburnsides to yell about wolf 359


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